GERMANY

Bertelsmann moves into university business
Germany’s Bertelsmann has agreed to take a controlling stake in United States-based Alliant International University as the first step in a plan to build a global network of universities to share research and data, write Harro ten Wolde and Joern Poltz for Reuters.Europe’s largest media group has made education its top investment priority. It has vowed to achieve €1 billion (US$1.12 billion) in revenue from a global market that advisory firm GSV has estimated will be worth US$5.5 trillion this year and US$6.4 trillion by 2017.
The purchase will give Bertelsmann access to the university’s data and research, the company said, adding that it expects to seal similar deals in the future. “Over the next few years, we will build a network of universities that deliver innovative education programmes in various fields of the health and human sciences,” Bertelsmann’s Chief Executive Thomas Rabe said.
Full report on the euronews site