Across the international education sector, school groups are snapping up settings wherever they can - from boosting presence in established markets to entering new territories, there is a constant stream of acquisition announcements.

This growth means groups are reaching a huge scale, with several boasting over 100 settings and others rapidly reaching this milestone.

In total, almost 6,000 international schools are now owned by groups.

But what’s it actually like when an international behemoth comes knocking? How easy (or hard) a decision is it to sell the school you’ve created (often as a family affair) into a corporate entity? What are the benefits? And how do you explain it to your community?

School groups ‘wooing with poetry’

Tom Wingate, founder and former head of the Wingate School in Mexico City, knows the process well after his school joined Inspired Education Group in 2024 - an event he said he never envisioned.

“We never said, ‘We’re going to found this school to one day offload it to a group,’” he tells Tes.

But despite being just 10 years old as a school, he believes its presence in Mexico City and the early success the setting had made it a valuable acquisition for Inspired. “I think they were keen to pick up a good school in the region,” he says matter-of-factly.

Inspired wasn’t the only group that had its designs on the school, though, and Wingate admits the overtures were intense: “A politician once said, ‘You campaign in poetry, you govern in prose’ - and you certainly get a lot of groups wooing in poetry,” he says.

This includes enticements such as access to deep funding, connections with a global network of other schools, support from a well-resourced centre and, of course, a sizeable amount of money for your asset: clearly, there is a lot to think about.

“If somebody comes along and says they want to acquire you, you have to be very careful about saying no because, will they ever come back? And if they did come back, would they make the same offer? So you’ve got to be very practical about these things,” says Wingate.

The question of trust

Sofia Chamusca, co-director of Colégio Júlio Dinis in Porto, Portugal, which was acquired by Dukes Education in 2023, recognises this well, saying that the school was regularly contacted by potential buyers - but for many years it rebuffed them.

“From 2020 onwards, the school began to receive a number of approaches from organisations interested in partnering with us,” she explains.

“While we listened carefully, it quickly became clear that many of these proposals were not aligned with our values, our educational philosophy or our long-term vision for the school.”

Wingate agrees that such caution is vital, and school owners should take time to really scope out potential partners.

He says: “It takes two to tango - they will look at you as part of what they want and how you fit their criteria, but you have to do your homework, too - about who they are, how they operate, what it’s like in the group.”

Wingate says he was helped in doing this by close connections among the Latin American Heads Conference, who knew of Inspired, and through these conversations and his own “deep dive” research, he felt it was the right fit for the school.

He adds: “It’s about the T word, the trust word. You’ve got to eyeball these people who are going to make a new relationship with you and say, ‘Do you trust me? And do I trust you?’”

Chamusca also uses the word “trust”, saying that from the “very first conversation” with Dukes, it felt “different” because there was an alignment of values that could work.

“Following our initial meeting, and a subsequent online meeting with [founder] Aatif Hassan, the decision became remarkably straightforward,” she says.

“We saw an alignment of values, ambition and educational philosophy, [and] there was a shared sense of purpose and trust, and a belief that this partnership would allow the school to grow without losing its identity.”

Autonomy and respect

It’s a similar story for Andreas Andreou, director at Globeducate Cyprus, after he and his two brothers sold 11 schools they founded as PASCAL Education to the group in 2022.

“From the very first meeting we had, they came across as warm, genuine, approachable and collaborative. That was very important for us,” he explains.

What’s more, they were given clarity that their roles would remain and evolve as part of the deal: “They were very reassuring about our roles and that the day-to-day running would remain with us.”

Since agreeing the deal, he says this has proven to be true, and while some things have changed, such as having targets and aims to meet for Globeducate and checking in on that, it remains a “collaboration” as promised.

“We don’t feel there is somebody on top of us checking us all the time,” he adds.

Wingate, too, says ensuring that a level of autonomy would be retained was an important part of their discussions before agreeing on any deal.

“[Autonomy] was a huge word for us and we were assured that as far as possible - because obviously some things are going to change - we would still be the ones running the school, because they don’t want to kill the goose that laid the golden egg,” he says.

Reassuring staff and parents

While a promise made over a boardroom table is one thing, announcing to staff and parents that your local, family-owned-and-run school is being sold to a private-equity-backed global entity is bound to cause consternation.

“Parents and staff were a bit suspicious at the start,” admits Andreou, who acknowledges that it is “understandable” there would be concerns over such a big change.

Given this, he says the first priority on agreeing to the deal was to “communicate transparently” with staff by holding meetings to “reassure them that their roles, benefits and working conditions would remain the same”.

He says a similar meeting with parents was also important: “We explained the benefits of joining Globeducate, emphasising this partnership would enhance the quality of education and open new opportunities for their children.”

“At the same time, we reassured them that the school’s core values and identity would remain intact,” he explains. “So while they were a bit suspicious at the beginning, soon after we proceeded with the collaboration, they were very happy.”

Annie Milburn, a board member at St Patrick’s College, a school in Uruguay acquired by Inspired earlier this year, agrees that clear communications - and giving staff the opportunity to ask questions - were vital to calm any worries.

“We invited anyone with remaining doubts to have a personal conversation after the group meeting,” she says.

The personal touch

Wingate adds that giving a personal element to communications never hurts when reaching out to parents.

“We sent out a very carefully worded email to the families, and one of the key messages was, ‘This is the culmination of my professional career. I am not going to play fast and loose with something that has taken me all my life to put together. So be assured I’m doing something I have thought through really carefully,’” he explains.

Chamusca at Colégio Júlio Dinis in Porto agrees that if you, as owners, believe in the decision, it is a lot easier to convince your community.

“Once parents understood that our team, values and pedagogical autonomy would remain unchanged, reassurance quickly followed, and the transition was very smooth,” she says.

She adds that students even had the chance to quiz their new owners: “When student representatives met with Aatif Hassan, his warmth, clarity and sincerity would have dispelled any doubts immediately.”

Securing a legacy

But why sell at all and give up what you’ve worked so hard to create in your own image?

Wingate is honest that a large part of the rationale comes down to legacy, and the reality that a school is a lot more secure in a major group than on its own.

“There will be a day when the Wingate family that founded this school won’t be here,” he says. “I’m mortal. But I founded this institution to touch lives, and I want to ensure it can continue doing that long after I am gone.”

As such, being in a group where there is a “big brother I can hold out my hand to” is a reassuring feeling.

Wingate adds: “[Inspired] has heavy-hitting lawyers; it’s got deep pockets. It’s got a lot of expertise from around the world. No one has all the answers. I certainly don’t. To be able to be part of a big organisation that can help you…that’s very comforting.”

Andreou says it was a similar decision for him and his family: “When Globeducate approached us, we were at a crossroads, as a family business, thinking carefully what our next steps should be.”

“Being under the umbrella of a group means you feel secure, and there are many things we wouldn’t have managed to do without them,” he says. “Like funding for expansion or new premises that we recently moved into; we couldn’t have done that on our own.”

Milburn at St Patrick’s says continuity of the school was also central to its decision-making.

“We have been planning and working towards the future of our school for quite some time, to ensure the continuity of its values and quality of education,” she says. “This step was absolutely necessary, as three of our founding partners were already retired.”

‘Brutal’ due diligence

So, a deal agreed, the community on board, legacy secured - is it time to sit back and enjoy the moment? Not quite. Now the real fun starts: due diligence.

“The due diligence is brutal. I mean, it really is tough,” says Wingate. “When you’re going through that wooing part, the poetry part, you don’t quite understand how difficult and challenging the due diligence will be.”

Milburn at St Patrick’s shares a similar tale: “The process was intense and required a great deal of work from both sides.

“However, as we have always had an orderly administration and a stable financial situation, although the due diligence process was quite demanding, we were able to meet almost all the requirements requested by professionals from Uruguay and abroad.”

Wingate says his advice for any other school that might one day be approached is to ensure that its books are as spotless as possible.

“From the get-go, make sure your paperwork - legal, financial, and so on - is absolutely squeaky clean,” he explains.

Beyond that, though, the advice from all leaders in this article centres on what drives decisions in any school - think about the pupils first and foremost. As Wingate summarises: “Make sure the decision you make maintains that focus on the needs of the children.

“It’s not about me, it’s not about the parents - it’s about the children.”

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