DLA Piper advises Times Higher Education in its acquisition of Inside Higher Ed

DLA Piper represented Times Higher Education, a London-based higher education news company, in its acquisition of Inside Higher Ed, which is based in Washington, DC, and provides news, analysis and services to universities and colleges across the US.

Together, the combined business will reach audiences of more than 50 million annually, comprising university leadership, faculty, professional staff and students, as well as policymakers and others, worldwide.

“It was a pleasure to bring together a strong cross-border team with extensive experience handling sophisticated acquisitions to advise Times Higher Education on this transaction, which strengthens its position in the market and enables it to reach an even larger audience of university and college professionals around the world,” said Jeffrey Houle, co-chair of DLA Piper’s Aerospace, Defense and Government Services Transactional practice, who led the firm’s US deal team.

“This acquisition will help expand our client’s ability to provide nuanced insights related to the field of higher education, and we are proud to have contributed to its growth and continued success,” said Richard May, the DLA Piper partner who led the firm’s UK deal team.

“Having the support of Jeff Houle, Richard May and the entire DLA Piper team was essential to the success of this transaction,” said Paul Howarth, CEO of Times Higher Education. “They were able to accomplish a complicated cross-border deal in the middle of a pandemic, worked tirelessly through the holidays with year-end deadlines, demonstrating their exceptional work ethic and deal-making prowess, and we could not be more appreciative of their efforts.”

In addition to Houle (Washington, DC) and May (Sheffield), the DLA Piper team representing Times Higher Education included partners Tracy Weir, Julia Kovacs (both of Washington, DC), Thomas Pilkerton, Jordan Bailowitz (both of Baltimore) and Glenn Reitman (Houston); of counsel Nia Brown (Washington, DC), Christopher Armstrong (Baltimore) and James Rusert (Atlanta); and associates Wenxi Li (Washington, DC), Mary Claire Blythe, Joshua Feldman (both of Baltimore) and Sydney Hu(Atlanta) in the US. The UK team also included senior associates Sarah Riley (Sheffield), Philip Allenby (London) and Alexander Yeramian (Manchester); and associate Alex Stone (Manchester).

With more than 1,000 corporate lawyers globally, DLA Piper helps clients execute complex cross-border transactions seamlessly while supporting clients across all stages of development. The firm has been rated number one in global M&A volume for 12 consecutive years, according to Mergermarket.