Times Higher Education acquires dataHE

Times Higher Education has completed the acquisition of dataHE, the rapidly growing provider of code-based data analysis for UK universities.

Founded five years ago by Mark Corver and Andrew Hargreaves, who both held senior positions at admissions service Ucas before setting up the company, dataHE now works with more than 60 higher education institutions across the country, as well as other organisations, such as accommodation providers and marketing agencies.

The deal brings together two of the most innovative and trusted providers of data, tools and strategic support for universities. It further strengthens THE’s data science capabilities, with a particular focus on helping universities analyse and optimise their place in the market, and student recruitment and admissions; and complements existing services, which include data benchmarking and consultancy for institutions and governments.

Dr Corver said that he was “looking forward to developing new ways of putting data to work for the benefit of universities and students in the UK and beyond”.

“Times Higher Education is unique: 50 years of respected expertise, a truly global presence, with the value that data brings at the heart of what it does,” Dr Corver said. “DataHE is dedicated to helping universities use data better, with our purpose-built analysis products making a difference across UK higher education.

“Taking data-backed decisions is increasingly critical to higher education worldwide, and this is always better with data and analysis working together. It is rare to find such a natural match and we are immensely excited to be joining THE.”

The acquisition is the third of 2022 for THE, which this year has also taken over US news provider Inside Higher Ed, delivering a combined worldwide audience of around 50 million users, and BMI, the leading global organiser of international student recruitment events, with a combined reach of about 20 million prospective students.

These deals follow the December 2020 acquisition of The Knowledge Partnership, a UK-based consultancy business that also operates the World 100 Reputation Network.

Paul Howarth, THE’s chief executive, said that he was “thrilled to be working with Mark and Andrew and their exceptional team”, and saw “dataHE’s strength in data science and its areas of commercial focus as being the perfect complement to THE’s existing offer as a data and insights business”.

“This is just the latest acquisition for THE as we build on strong organic growth by adding the best businesses in higher education to our portfolio,” Mr Howarth said.

“Our collective mission is clear: to support and enable universities across the world to excel, and I have no doubt that dataHE will add significantly to our ability to do that.”

Mr Hargreaves, dataHE’s founder, said that the team was “absolutely delighted to be joining the THE family of companies”.

“We want to enrich the services we bring to the market; we want to deliver more value to our clients.  This new relationship provides a platform for us to be able to do just that,” he said.

THE is owned by Inflexion Private Equity, which acquired the business in February 2019. It is headquartered in London, with offices in Australia, the US and Singapore.