Nottingham to buy out Malaysia campus partner in £23.5 million deal

The University of Nottingham has announced that it will buy out its partner in its Malaysian campus.

The institution will take over from its Malaysian partner, Boustead Holdings Berhad, as majority shareholder.

The £23.5 million deal would “secure the long-term future” of the institution in the region, which includes 650 jobs and 5,200 students, Nottingham said.

The campus became the first UK university overseas branch campus in 2000, and the second branch campus in Malaysia, behind Monash University Malaysia, which was established in 1998. The campus was initially focused on teaching but has expanded its research activities in recent years.

A number of overseas branch campuses have faced difficulties recently in attracting students and navigating local issues. In 2019, the University of Reading was forced to scale back its operations following reports of a £27 million loss in the previous year. However, its provost and CEO said he believes the pandemic could “be the making of” branch campuses.

Nottingham said the new deal will provide “exciting opportunities to continue to deliver high quality British education globally, expand international research partnerships and extend operations in Malaysia and the ASEAN region”.

The transition will begin in autumn this year.

Nottingham’s vice chancellor, Shearer West, said that “with demand for higher education in the ASEAN region expected to increase significantly in the coming years” majority ownership of the campus “creates the potential for us to provide high quality UK tertiary education to a region which is home to one in 11 of the world’s 15- to 24-year-olds and demonstrates significant appetite to expand its higher education provisions”.

She added: “Together with the university’s other global campus in Ningbo, China, where we educate some 8,000 students each year, this will underscore the university’s position as the UK’s truly global university.” The investment will contribute to the future of the UK “as it forges its place on the global stage in a post-pandemic world”, she argued.

Professor West continued: “This purchase will allow us to build on excellent foundations in teaching and research to develop new, innovative teaching programmes and research that supports sustainable development locally, regionally and globally.”

anna.mckie@timeshighereducation.com