Navitas (also known as Navitas Limited, previously known as IBT Education) is an Australian owned for-profit private education services company, owning various private education providers internationally.[3] It is the largest private non-university higher education provider in Australia.[4]
Navitas made A$929.69 million in total sales in 2018, through its various subsidiaries and pathways programs in association with 11 public universities in Australia.[5]
Navitas was established in 1994, as the Perth Institute of Business and Technology (PIBT). The company was co-founded by Rod Jones and Dr Peter Larsen, as a joint venture with Edith Cowan University. Both founders had career backgrounds in education and education administration, and recognised a gap in the tertiary education sector, where international students, despite being equally capable as domestic students, were failing their courses due to lack of support.[6][7] Following a partnership deal with a university in the United Kingdom in 2000, the company made its first international expansion.[7] Four years onward, following success in this venture and the further establishment of pathways colleges, the company was listed publicly on the Australian Securities Exchange as IBT Education, being the first Australian education company to do so.[7]
In 2005, as Australia's only private education company of its kind at the time, IBT Education acquired the largest private English language teaching (ELT) company in Australia, Australian Centre for Languages (ACL) Pty Ltd. for A$55.7m.[8] Following shareholder approval, the company proceeded with a renaming in 2007, renaming itself from IBT Education Limited, to Navitas Limited, as well as rebranding its public operations to Navitas.[8] Navitas expanded operations into the USA in 2010, through partnerships with the University of Massachusetts and Western Kentucky University.[9] Responding to a favourable financial environment, Navitas moved on acquiring SAE Group, for A$294.3m, in 2011, its largest acquisition so far.[10] Following further success, propelled by the growing international education industry, in 2014, Navitas entered the ASX 100.[11] Subsequently, Forbes placed it 25th in their Most Innovative Growth Companies 2014 list.[12] In 2017, the company launched Navitas Ventures, a corporate venture capital fund.[13]
In 2019, Navitas agreed to a buyout from a consortium of investors, following negotiation throughout 2018 and 2019, where Navitas rejecte
Sources:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navitas_Limited
- http://www.navitas-aarhus.dk/
