ACG Education (ACG), New Zealand’s largest independent educational services provider, has reached agreement with Administrators McGrathNicol to acquire Intueri’s seven New Zealand vocational colleges. The colleges will be acquired through ACG’s vocational education division New Education Group, and the transaction is expected to be completed on 30 June 2017.
ACG Group Chief Executive John Williamson said the company was delighted with the opportunity to bring Intueri’s New Zealand colleges into the New Education Group family. “A key attraction was the fact that their colleges are complementary to two of our colleges, NZMA and New Zealand School of Tourism. This will enable us to integrate our operations quickly, combine our strengths to deliver a broad range of high-quality programmes, and establish a strong platform for future expansion.”
Mr Williamson said a seamless transition for students and teachers was a key focus. “Our New Education Group colleges are highly-regarded for the quality of the education they provide and the employment outcomes achieved by their students. We will work closely with our new colleges to ensure that students receive the same quality of education, pastoral care support and employment support that all ACG and New Education Group students receive.”
Following completion of the acquisition New Education Group will provide vocational education to over 9,000 students in New Zealand each year. All its colleges are NZQA EER-rated Category 1 providers, as are the colleges being acquired. Mr Williamson said ACG had conducted detailed due diligence and is comfortable that the newly acquired colleges are meeting the required educational quality standards.
“We have also consulted extensively with the Tertiary Education Commission and the New Zealand Qualifications Authority throughout our due diligence, and we are pleased that both regulators are very supportive of ACG’s acquisition,” he said.
ACG provides educational services across the spectrum with preschools, schools, university pathways programmes and vocational & higher education colleges. Following this acquisition, ACG will educate 17,000 students at 50 campuses across three countries.
