Higher Education Services

The higher education industry has many similarities to healthcare, as well as important differences. Similarities include each being capital intensive and non-movable, highly regulated and dependent on government financing, and having analogous stakeholders (boards and management, professors/physicians, students/patients). In addition, the two sectors are becoming increasingly intertwined as academic medical centers grow and as efforts at workforce development increase.

While mergers and acquisitions are quite new in higher education, we have been at the forefront of this evolution for nearly a decade. We field one of the most experienced advisory teams in the industry, having worked on buy-side and sell-side transactions and other partnerships across the country.

We excel at preparing clients to explore partnerships and mergers, analyzing their situation and addressing questions and concerns of management, the board and other stakeholders. With a solid design, we then take clients through a proven, effective process of information exchange, proposal development and negotiations leading to a successful outcome. We work closely with attorneys and other advisors on legal documentation, accreditation and gaining government approvals.

Among the services we provide to our higher education clients:

Provide board education on the state of mergers and acquisitions in higher education
Assess the client’s financial and market position and identify strategic options
Assess an institution’s readiness to participate in M&A
Develop and create partnerships including programs, clinical rotations, industry linkages, etc.
Design and execute an acquisition strategy to add programs, reach another geographic or demographic student population or create scale
Find a buyer or strategic partner to provide greater financial and institutional resources