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User:PMV1111/Draft History

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by PMV1111 (talk | contribs) at 11:57, 27 July 2021 (Updates per suggestions by editor DGG). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

History

1998-2009

Laureate Education was originally created by Douglas Becker in 1998, as an operational division of Sylvan Learning Systems that would focus on post-secondary institutions. At the time, Sylvan was primarily focused on services for students in primary and secondary education through company owned and franchise locations.[1]

Sylvan International Universities' first acquisition was Spain's Universidad Europea de Madrid for $51 million in 1999.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). By 2001, the company had expanded to include institutions including Mexico's Universidad del Valle de México (UMV), Chile's Universidad de las Américas, Switzerland's Les Roches International School of Hotel Management,[2] and 41% ownership of the online institution Walden University.[3]

In March 2003, the firm decided to focus exclusively on post-secondary education. It sold the K-12 business units, and the Sylvan name and trademark to Apollo Management,[4] then changed its name to Laureate Education in May 2004, to reflect the new direction.[5] Laureate took full control of Walden in September 2004, after purchasing remaining shares of the university for $109 million. The Baltimore Sun reported that "Walden's enrollment grew tenfold from the time Laureate first invested in it four years ago."[3] In 2007, the firm became private after being acquired by an investor group led by Becker.[6]

2010-2018

Laureate continued to expand and acquire new institutions after becoming privately owned. By 2010, it owned more than 50 institutions, both campus-based and online, in 21 countries across Asia, Europe, and the Americas. According to the firm, it had a total enrollment of about 550,000 students. That year, former U.S. President Bill Clinton became the "honorary chancellor" of the network.[7]

In January 2013, the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, made a $150 million equity investment in the firm to expand access to quality higher education in emerging markets.[8][9] The firm also bought Brazilian for-profit university chain Centro Universitário das Faculdades Metropolitanas Unidas for $412 million in anticipation of a growing middle-class in Brazil, where it had been present since 2005.[10] The firm was among investors in Coursera, a provider of massive online open courses, citing the opportunity to license courses through Coursera.[11] Arizona-based Thunderbird School of Global Management announced a partnership with the firm in March 2013 to set up a joint venture that would provide capital support for Thunderbird to open multiple international instruction sites, create an undergraduate program, and expand its executive education and online programs.[12] The partnership proved controversial. Some trustees and alumni expressed concerns that partnering with for-profit education could negatively affect Thunderbird's reputation, while supporters said working with Laureate would allow Thunderbird, which was struggling financially, to maintain its independence.[13]

Laureate reported revenue of approximately $4 billion in 2014. At the time, it owned 75 schools in 30 countries.[14] Inside Higher Ed reported that total enrollment among the firm's institutions was 800,000, with its largest school, UVM, enrolling 120,000.[15]

Laureate filed for an initial public offering in October 2015. At the time, it disclosed $4.7 billion in debt, and that funds raised from the IPO would be used to reduce its debt load.[16] At the end of 2015, the firm became a certified benefit corporation, the largest at the time.[17] In 2016, the firm sold its two Glion Institute of Higher Education campuses, and four campuses of Les Roches to Eurazeo for $384.9 million.[18]

The firm began trading at $14 per share on the NASDAQ on February 1, 2017. It initially offered 35 million shares, raising $490 million, and closed its first day at $13.25 per share. The IPO stated that the firm had grown to more than 1 million students and 200-plus campuses in 28 countries, and the IPO was in part a response to a global demand for more higher education among a rapidly growing middle class.[19] It was only the third B Corporation to go public, the first two being Etsy and Rally Software.[20] In September 2017, Becker announced his resignation as Laureate's CEO effective January 2018. He was succeeded by Chief Financial Officer Eilif Serck-Hanssen.[21]

In 2018, the firm began divesting in several markets. It sold schools such as Université Internationale de Casablanca in Morocco, and Kendall College, as well as others in China, Malaysia, Italy and Cyprus. It's focus at the time was on its operations in Spain, Portugal, the U.S., and South and Central America.[22]

2019-2021

Laureate continued its divestiture in 2019, selling institutions such as Bilgi University in Istanbul,[23] and University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences. The firm's long-term debt at the time was approximately $2.5 billion. It also provided the US Department of Education with letters of credit totaling $137 million for several schools, meant to safeguard federal student aid if the schools closed.[24]

In 2020, the firm announced a new strategy to review its operations, including possible sales of schools in Peru, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand.[25] It then entered into an agreement to sell its Australian and New Zealand schools to Strategic Education, Inc., and on September 11, said it would sell Walden to Adtalem for $1.48 billion.[26] The Baltimore Business Journal reported that Laureate executives would receive $19 million in bonuses from the sale of Walden.[27] By November, the firm had divested its universities in Australia, New Zealand and Chile,[27] and announced that it would sell its Brazilian operations to Ser Educacional for $724 million. However, the firm received a higher offer of $765 million from Anima Holding during a 30-day period while it was allowed to solicit other offers.[28] The sale to Anima was completed in May 2021.[29]

  1. ^ Honan, William H. (20 January 1999). "Sylvan Plans Overseas College Network". The New York Times.
  2. ^ Hughlett, Roger (April 23, 2001). "Going international". Baltimore Business Journal. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
  3. ^ a b Bishop, Tricia (September 18, 2014). "Laureate gains full control of Walden U". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
  4. ^ Walsh, Mark (19 March 2003). "Sylvan Learning, Changing Focus, Sells K-12 Sector". Education Week. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  5. ^ "Sylvan Learning Renamed". New York Times. 18 May 2004. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  6. ^ "Management Group to Take Laureate Education Private". The New York Times. 29 January 2007.
  7. ^ Gus G. Sentementes (2010-04-26). "Laureate Education lures Clinton as 'honorary chancellor'". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2014-03-07.
  8. ^ Redden, Elizabeth (2014-03-03). "World Bank affiliate invests $150 million in for-profit college provider". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved 2014-03-07.
  9. ^ Kilar, Steve (2013-01-23). "World Bank invests in Baltimore-based Laureate Education". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2014-03-07.
  10. ^ "Laureate Education Acquires Brazil's FMU For $412 Million - Career College Central". 23 August 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  11. ^ Melissa Korn (2013-07-10). "Online Education Startup Coursera Raises $43 Million - Digits". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on August 20, 2013. Retrieved 2014-03-07.
  12. ^ Bradshaw, Della (2013-03-18). "Thunderbird ties knot with commercial education partner". Financial Times. ISSN 0307-1766. Retrieved 2016-09-27.
  13. ^ Russ Wiles. "Thunderbird community split by school's plan". The Republic. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  14. ^ Kimes, Mina (2014-01-18). "Laureate, a for-profit education firm, finds international success (with a Clinton's help)". The Washington Post.
  15. ^ Redden, Elizabeth; Fain, Paul (October 10, 2010). "Going Global". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  16. ^ Wells, Carrie (October 5, 2015). "Laureate Education files IPO with $4.7 billion debt". The Baltimore Sun. {{cite web}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)
  17. ^ Gunther, Marc (January 7, 2016). "Can B Corp be the next Fair Trade for socially-minded corporations?". The Guardian. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  18. ^ Seltzer, Rick (May 16, 2016). "Laureate selling two European schools for $385M". Baltimore Business Journal. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  19. ^ "Form S-1". Securities and Exchange Commission. May 20, 2016. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  20. ^ Gensler, Lauren (February 1, 2017). "The World's Biggest For-Profit College Company, Laureate Education, Raises $490 Million In Public Debut". Forbes. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  21. ^ Wilen, Holden. "Doug Becker to step down as CEO of Laureate". bizjournals.com. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  22. ^ Smith, Ashley (January 31, 2018). "Laureate Shifts Focus". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  23. ^ "Bilgi Üniversitesi'nin yeni sahibinin bilinmeyenleri". odatv.com (in Turkish). Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  24. ^ Unglesbee, Ben (February 7, 2019). "For-profit Laureate sells St. Augustine for $400M, holds onto Walden U". Education Dive. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  25. ^ Schultz, Clark. "Laureate Education starts strategic review". seekingalpha.com. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  26. ^ Milligan, Carley (September 11, 2020). "Laureate to sell Walden University in $1.5 billion deal". Baltimore Business Journal. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  27. ^ a b Wilen, Holden (November 13, 2020). "Laureate executives to get big payouts for sale of online university". Baltimore Business Journal. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  28. ^ Wilen, Holden (November 2, 2020). "Laureate reaches new deal to sell Brazilian operations, settle dispute with original buyer". Baltimore Business Journal. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  29. ^ Araújo, Ricardo (May 30, 2021). ""Enxergamos a oportunidade perfeita" diz Daniel Castanho". Tribuna do Norte (in Portuguese). Retrieved June 7, 2021.
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