SMB advises Business Marketing International on its sale to Times Higher Education

Neal Hodges and Rob Hepburn of SMB’s Corporate team have advised the shareholders of Business Marketing International (BMI) on their sale of a leading higher education business, BMI, to Times Higher Education (THE).

BMI connects and supports student mobility and runs education events in which more than 2,400 institutions from over 40 countries participate, including national governing bodies, the European Commission and Ministries of Education amongst others. It is renowned for organising market-leading international education events across the world and offers a variety of solutions to provide international education professionals with a multi-touch recruitment strategy, covering both online and offline activities worldwide.

THE is the trusted global data partner for higher education, drawing on five decades of expertise in the sector, millions of individual data points, more institutions participating in its flagship university rankings than any other and 28 million website users in 2019.

Samir Zaveri, President and CEO at BMI, said of the SMB team:

“We were very impressed with the prompt response to the endless questions we had and the expert advice we received from Neal Hodges, Rob Hepburn and the entire SMB team.”

Mr Zaveri went on to say of the deal that: “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.”

Patrick Hayes, Chief Development Officer at THE, commented: “The addition of BMI to our network of partners is hugely exciting. Together we can provide first-class events for those looking to study abroad, connecting them with institutions that best serve their requirements and helping them into international study across a number of destination countries.”