Times Higher Education acquires student events organiser BMI

Times Higher Education has promised to “transform the events landscape for students looking to study abroad” after completing the acquisition of BMI, a leading organiser of international student recruitment events.

BMI, founded in 1987, runs in-person recruitment fairs and workshops, virtual events, and a digital advisory platform, Viva Mundo, which is a leading study abroad platform in Latin America. More than 2,400 institutions from over 40 countries have participated in BMI events.

With THE’s student-facing division, THE Student, the deal will expand the range of options universities have to engage with prospective learners both in-person and online, with the two organisations collectively reaching more than 20 million prospective international students every year.

THE Student works with a range of trusted partners from across the industry to provide comprehensive advice and guidance to globally mobile university applicants, and last year ran a successful series of “THE Student Fairs” in partnership with BMI, engaging with students from across Asia and Africa.

Paul Howarth, THE’s chief executive, said: “Bringing together the world’s leading student recruitment events business with one of the world’s largest and most renowned study abroad platforms is an incredibly exciting development at Times Higher Education.

“Together we can transform the events landscape for students looking to study abroad – both in person and online – connecting them with institutions that best serve their requirements and helping them into international study across a wide range of destination countries.”

Samir Zaveri, BMI’s chief executive and president, said: “Last year, we ran some very successful virtual events in partnership with THE in Africa, India and Asia which allowed us to see the massive student audience they reach. It also allowed us to fully understand how we can leverage this audience to further improve our current events and potentially launch new ones in key student recruitment countries and regions across the world.

“Therefore, joining forces felt like a natural partnership given the popularity of THE’s university rankings and the need for prospective students to meet institutions at world-class virtual and physical events across the world. By coming together, millions of students using their platform will now be able to meet universities at BMI’s leading international education fairs.”

The acquisition of BMI follows THE’s acquisition of the US-based business Inside Higher Ed, which delivers combined audiences of more than 50 million users annually, comprising university leaders, researchers, professional staff and students, as well as policymakers and others.

THE was itself acquired by Inflexion Private Equity in February 2019.