History
The company dates the origin of Study Group from the Embassy language school in Hastings, England, acquired by businessmen Andrew Colin and Duncan Greenland in 1999. A second language school was opened in Hove shortly after. Colin had previously acquired Bellerbys College, a sixth-form college for international students, and in 1994 the company British Study Group was formed incorporating the two businesses.
In 1996, 40% of the business was acquired by the Daily Mail Group, becoming Study Group International and expanding into the US and Australia. Later, in 1999, the Daily Mail Group became the 100% owner of Study Group, paying an estimated UK£44 million.
As well as expanding the UK and Australian operations, Study Group acquired the Center for English Studies (CES) chain of language schools in the USA and Canada, adding Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Vancouver to their fold. Embassy became Embassy CES.
In 2006 Study Group was acquired by Australian private equity company Champ, having been sold by Daily Mail Group for A$176.4 million.
In 2007, the Brighton school and UK head office moved to purpose-built premises in the New England Quarter, next to Brighton station, costing an estimated UK£28 million.
On July 1, 2010, Providence Equity Partners took ownership of Study Group for $660 million Australian dollars.
Read more about this topic: Study Group International
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