ThinCats helps Times Higher Education expand global reach

Times Higher Education (THE), the trusted global data partner for higher education, has been supported with £5m funding from ThinCats, leading alternative finance provider for mid-sized SMEs. The funding will bolster working capital and facilitated the acquisition of The Knowledge Partnership, an independent strategy, marketing and communications consultancy offering universities a range of insights into course efficiency, student recruitment strategy and branding.

Having made its name through industry-leading news and insights across the world of global higher education, THE now provides rich first-party data from its suite of influential world university rankings and other products to higher education stakeholders across the world. With unparalleled expertise on university performance its customers include Oxbridge and Ivy League institutions as well as leading universities and governments across six continents.

THE also provides consultancy solutions and hiring solutions to support university excellence across the globe. In February 2019, THE was acquired by Inflexion, a leading mid-market private equity house, which continues to work with the THE team to help progress its global expansion.

Looking to support this expansion through M&A, THE was introduced to ThinCats by London-based M&A, debt and special situations advisers Arrowpoint Advisory. ThinCats was asked to support the acquisition of The Knowledge Partnership (TKP) through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) after an original attempt to acquire TKP in early 2020 was postponed due to the pandemic. The acquisition will broaden THE’s offering via an integrated and global sales team, as well as complementing and increasing its existing events programme.

Paul Howarth, CEO, THE: “As a globally recognised and respected brand, it is very exciting to be in a position to extend THE’s offering through the acquisition of The Knowledge Partnership. With many synergies across our businesses, we very much look forward to developing the service that we provide to our clients, and thank the teams at Arrowpoint and ThinCats for helping to make this happen.”

Dave Sherrington, regional head of sales, London, ThinCats: “Working with Paul and the team at Times Higher Education, it’s clear that the business knows exactly where it’s going and we were delighted to finalise this deal alongside Inflexion and Arrowpoint. THE have a number of big plans for the next couple of years, and we will enjoy seeing them realised.”