Navitas Limited Explained

Navitas Pty Ltd
Logo Alt:Navitas. Life changing opportunities to learn.
Trade Name:Navitas
Native Name Lang:en
Former Name:IBT Education Pty Ltd
Type:Private
Isin:AU000000NVT2
Industry:Education services
Founded:1994 in Perth, Australia
Hq Location:Level 8 Brookfield Place, 125 St Georges Terrace
Hq Location City:Perth, WA
Hq Location Country:Australia
Num Locations:over 120
Num Locations Year:2017
Profit Year:-->
Num Employees:6,046
Num Employees Year:2020
Parent:BGH Capital
Footnotes:[1] [2]

Navitas (also known as Navitas Limited, previously known as IBT Education) is an Australian owned for-profit private education services company, owning various private education providers internationally.[3] It is the largest private non-university higher education provider in Australia.[4]

Navitas made A$929.69 million in total sales in 2018, through its various subsidiaries and pathways programs in association with 11 public universities in Australia.[5]

History

Navitas was established in 1994, as the Perth Institute of Business and Technology (PIBT). The company was co-founded by Rod Jones and Dr Peter Larsen, as a joint venture with Edith Cowan University. Both founders had career backgrounds in education and education administration, and recognised a gap in the tertiary education sector, where international students, despite being equally capable as domestic students, were failing their courses due to lack of support.[6] Following a partnership deal with a university in the United Kingdom in 2000, the company made its first international expansion. Four years onward, following success in this venture and the further establishment of pathways colleges, the company was listed publicly on the Australian Securities Exchange as IBT Education, being the first Australian education company to do so.

In 2005, as Australia's only private education company of its kind at the time, IBT Education acquired the largest private English language teaching (ELT) company in Australia, Australian Centre for Languages (ACL) Pty Ltd. for A$55.7m.[7] Following shareholder approval, the company proceeded with a renaming in 2007, renaming itself from IBT Education Limited, to Navitas Limited, as well as rebranding its public operations to Navitas. Navitas expanded operations into the USA in 2010, through partnerships with the University of Massachusetts and Western Kentucky University.[8] Responding to a favourable financial environment, Navitas moved on acquiring SAE Group, for A$294.3m, in 2011, its largest acquisition so far.[9] Following further success, propelled by the growing international education industry, in 2014, Navitas entered the ASX 100.[10] Subsequently, Forbes placed it 25th in their Most Innovative Growth Companies 2014 list.[11] In 2017, the company launched Navitas Ventures, a corporate venture capital fund.[12]

Private equity takeover

In 2019, Navitas agreed to a buyout from a consortium of investors, following negotiation throughout 2018 and 2019, where Navitas rejected the initial offer.[13] Following this, the shareholders were informed of the terms of the buyout, at A$5.825 per share (A$2.3 billion total). The investor consortium was led by private equity firm BGH Capital, also consisting of AustralianSuper and the company's founder Rod Jones. This marked the largest-ever acquisition by an Australian private equity firm, by gross value.[14]

Structure

As of 2019, the ultimate parent of Navitas Limited is BGH Capital.[15]

Segments

The company's subsidiary businesses are categorised under two segments; careers and industry, and university pathways partnerships. These categorisations are used to describe its revenue sources.

Careers and industry

These companies explicitly provide career and industry training to students:

University pathways partnerships

These partnerships are between universities and Navitas, establishing separate pathways colleges, with the university branding for students who would otherwise not meet entry requirements to the university.[16]

Navitas SubsidiaryPathway forCityCountry
Curtin College[17] Curtin UniversityPerth
Curtin Singapore[18] Curtin UniversitySingapore
Deakin College[19] Deakin UniversityMelbourne
Edith Cowan College[20] Edith Cowan UniversityPerth
Eynesbury College[21] University of Adelaide, University of South AustraliaAdelaide
Griffith College[22] Griffith UniversityBrisbane
La Trobe College[23] La Trobe UniversityMelbourne
South Australian Institute of Business and Technology[24] University of South AustraliaAdelaide
Sydney Institute of Business and Technology[25] Western Sydney UniversitySydney
University of Canterbury International College[26] University of CanterburyChristchurch
University of Canberra College[27] University of CanberraCanberra
Western Sydney University International College[28] Western Sydney UniversitySydney
ARU College[29] Anglia Ruskin UniversityCambridge
Birmingham City University International College[30] Birmingham City UniversityBirmingham
Hertfordshire International College[31] University of HertfordshireHertfordshire
International College at Robert Gordon University[32] Robert Gordon UniversityAberdeen
International College Portsmouth[33] University of PortsmouthPortsmouth
Leicester University Global Study Centre[34] University of LeicesterLeicester
London Brunel International College[35] Brunel University LondonLondon
The College, Swansea University[36] Swansea UniversitySwansea
The Hague Pathway College[37] The Hague University of Applied SciencesThe Hague
Twente Pathway College[38] University of TwenteEnschede
University of Northampton International College[39] University of NorthamptonNorthampton
UA92 Global[40] Lancaster UniversityManchester
University of Plymouth International CollegeUniversity of PlymouthPlymouth
Fraser International College[41] Simon Fraser UniversityBurnaby
International College of Manitoba[42] University of ManitobaManitoba
Richard Bland College of William and Mary Global Student Success Program[43] William & Mary, University of Virginia, Virginia TechVirginia
Toronto Metropolitan University International College[44] Toronto Metropolitan UniversityToronto
Umass Boston Navitas Global Student Success Program[45] UMass BostonBoston
Queens College Global Student Success Program[46] Queens CollegeNew York City
Wilfirid Laurier International College[47] Wilfrid Laurier UniversityBrantford
Australian College of Technology and Business[48] Edith Cowan UniversityColombo
Murdoch University Dubai[49] Murdoch UniversityDubai

Navitas Ventures

In 2017, Navitas launched its venture capital fund, Navitas Ventures, aimed at startups in the educational technology (EdTech) sector.

Portfolio

As of 2021, the Navitas Ventures portfolio contains nine companies:[50]

Revenue

The company derives revenue from areas which are categorised into three segments, defined by the company structure.

University partnerships

This segment encapsulates pathways programs run by Navitas in partnership with other universities.[51] [52]

University partnerships account for the largest part of Navitas revenue, and was their original revenue source.

Careers and industry

This segment includes all career and industry training institutions, such as SAE Institute and Professional & English Programs (PEP). The careers and industry section of the business is a result of Navitas' acquisition of training institutions, such as Australian College of Applied Psychology, SAE Institute, and Australian School of Applied Management. The segment also includes student recruitment services, which provides recruitment services to students such as internships, for those seeking experience internationally.

Prior to 2017, this segment was represented as 2 smaller categories, Professional and English Programs (PEP) and SAE Institute, however was merged.

Corporate

This segment includes Navitas group's corporate functions.

Yearly results (2006–2018)

This table displays the total revenue divided by each segment, before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortisation and impairment.

All dollar figures in this table are in Australian Dollars (AUD), in thousands.

YearUniversity PartnershipsCareers and IndustryCorporate FunctionsTotal
2018 $598,887 $317,563 $13,243 $929,693
2017 $574,129 $375,054 $4,321 $953,504
2016 $635,411 $368,440 $4,584 $1,008,435
2015 $566,340 $409,459 $2,432 $978,141
2014 $499,186 $374,532 $2,255 $875,973
2013[53] $415,713 $311,311 $2,537 $729,561
2012[54] $366,674 $317,975 $3,497 $688,146
2011 $372,947 $265,152 $3,727 $641,826
2010 $346,755 $205,070 $3,569 $555,394
2009 $283,419 $183,773 $2,644 $469,836
2008[55] $209,138 $132,843 $1,171 $343,152
2007 $155,929 $125,129 $1,652 $282,710
2006$137,178$85,475$3,393$226,046

Leadership

Rod Jones, CEO from 1994–2018

Rod Jones co-founded the company, Initially working in government and university administration. With experience in the industry, and an interest in capitalising on the rapidly growing student market, the founder found initial success upon the company's inception. Rod Jones remained CEO of the company through its expansion, until it was re-privatised by the consortium run by BGH Capital. He was then succeeded by David Buckingham.

David Buckingham, CEO from 2018–2019

On 27th Feb 2018, the board announced that David Buckingham will succeed Rod Jones as CEO after 23 years of service. David Buckingham worked for Navitas since 2016, and was previously CEO of iiNet, an Australian telecommunications provider.[56]

Scott Jones, CEO from 2019–present

Following the BGH Capital takeover, Scott Jones was appointed CEO in 2019. Scott Jones had worked within Navitas group since 2008, working as CEO for SAE Global, then CEO for Navitas Careers and Industry Division.

Criticism

Industry criticisms

For-profit private education has come under scrutiny in many industry journal reports, with Navitas, as Australia's biggest provider in the industry, commonly the subject of discussion.

It is suggested by scholars that for-profit private education has several pitfalls. The for-profit model is said to compromise the quality of education, in favour of financial profit. However, the sector provides a pivotal part in many disadvantaged students lives, to provide a second chance, to those who did not have access to traditional tertiary education pathways.[57]

The rapid growth of the private higher education (PHE) industry has been linked in many countries to employers’ changing workforce demands, to preferring workers who can quickly react to technological advancements. In Australia, the cause of this growth has been linked to the inability of the public education sector to accommodate the growing demand of international students.[58]

The foundation of TEQSA in 2011 and subsequent funding towards public tertiary education providers, has further contributed to Navitas and the PHE industry's ability to grow in Australia.

La Trobe Melbourne

Between April and June 2014, staff at Navitas owned La Trobe Melbourne partook in various strikes. This industrial action was in response to unreasonable negotiation of employment in regards to working conditions, job cuts and job security, between Navitas and the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU).[59]

The working conditions being contested were the employer's usage of hot-desking and lack of staff space such as lockers. The job security concerns were in regards to more than 60 percent of the university's teaching staff being employed by casual contracts.[60] In response to the strike, the university chancellor refused an open dialogue with the Union, and proceeded with the 350 job cuts.[61]

Following the job cuts, the National Tertiary Education Union submitted an enquiry with the Fair Work Commission, requesting that the Commission assess their dispute with the La Trobe Melbourne (Navitas) enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA). The dispute details the NTEU's belief that Navitas had failed assess its need for casual staff, in the case that many staff employed casually should actually be under fixed-term or on-going contracts, as stated in the EBA.[62] This type of employment is known as sham contracting.[63] The Fair Work Commission expressed that it was not satisfied with Navitas' obligation to assess their casual employment contract validity. The Commission stated that all casual contracts must be re-assessed, and that Navitas must expedite this process, and work with NTEU to fulfil their obligation within the EBA.[64]

See also

References

  1. Web site: Navitas – What we do. 2021-05-17. www.navitas.com.
  2. Web site: IBISWorld . June 2020 . Navitas Pty Limited . 2 June 2021.
  3. Web site: Navitas – Who we are. 2021-05-17. www.navitas.com.
  4. Webb. Sue. Bathmaker. Ann-Marie. Gale. Trevor. Hodge. Steven. Parker. Stephen. Rawolle. Shaun. 2017-01-02. Higher vocational education and social mobility: educational participation in Australia and England. Journal of Vocational Education & Training. 69. 1. 147–167. 10.1080/13636820.2016.1269359. 1363-6820.
  5. Web site: Navitas Limited . June 2018 . Navitas Limited Annual Report 2018 . 2 June 2021.
  6. Book: Hougaz, Laura. Entrepreneurs Creating Educational Innovation: Case Studies From Australia. Springer. 2020. 978-3-030-28653-8. 55–68. Rod Jones: Navitas.
  7. Web site: IBT Education . 2007 . IBT Education Limited Annual Report 2007 .
  8. Web site: Navitas Limited . 2010. Navitas Limited Annual Report 2010 . 20 June 2021.
  9. Web site: Navitas Limited . 2011 . Navitas Limited Annual Report 2011 . 20 June 2021.
  10. Web site: Navitas Limited . 2014 . Navitas Limited Annual Report 2014 . 20 June 2021.
  11. Web site: Navitas. 2021-05-17. Forbes. en.
  12. Web site: Navitas Limited . 2017 . Navitas Limited Annual Report 2017 . 20 June 2021.
  13. News: Thompson, S. . March 20, 2019. BGH Capital to sign $2.3b Navitas deal . Australian Financial Review .
  14. Web site: 2019-03-21. BGH looks overseas after $2.3b deal for Navitas. 2021-05-31. Australian Financial Review. en.
  15. Web site: June 2020. Navitas Pty Limited. 2021-05-17. www.ibisworld.com. IBISWorld. en.
  16. Web site: Navitas – What we do. 2021-05-28. www.navitas.com.
  17. Web site: Study in Perth Curtin College at Curtin University. 2021-05-17. www.curtincollege.edu.au.
  18. Web site: Study in Singapore Australia's Curtin University campus in Singapore. 2021-05-17. www.curtin.edu.sg.
  19. Web site: Deakin Pathways to University Foundation, Diploma. 2021-05-17. Deakin College. en-AU.
  20. Web site: Edith Cowan College – Your Direct Pathway to ECU. 2021-05-17. www.edithcowancollege.edu.au.
  21. Web site: Eynesbury College – Home. 2021-05-17. www.eynesbury.navitas.com.
  22. Web site: Griffith College – Get a Head Start on your Journey to Griffith University. 2021-05-17. Griffith College. en-AU.
  23. Web site: La Trobe College Australia – Home. 2021-05-17. www.latrobecollegeaustralia.edu.au.
  24. Web site: SAIBT – Your Direct Pathway to University of South Australia. 2021-05-17. www.saibt.sa.edu.au.
  25. Web site: SIBT – Home. 2021-05-17. www.sibt.nsw.edu.au.
  26. Web site: UCIC – About UCIC. 2021-05-17. www.ucic.ac.nz.
  27. Web site: Unknown. 2014-05-20. UC College. 2021-05-17. www.canberra.edu.au. en-AU.
  28. Web site: Western Sydney University International College. 2021-05-17. internationalcollege.westernsydney.edu.au.
  29. Web site: ARU College – Undergraduate and Postgraduate Pathways to ARU. 2021-05-17. ARU College. en-GB.
  30. Web site: BCUIC – Home. 2021-05-17. www.bcuic.navitas.com.
  31. Web site: HIC – Home. 2021-05-17. www.hic.navitas.com.
  32. Web site: ICRGU – Home. 2021-05-17. www.icrgu.navitas.com.
  33. Web site: ICP – Home. 2021-05-17. www.icp.navitas.com.
  34. Web site: Leicester Global Study Centre – Home. 2021-05-17. www.leicestergsc.com.
  35. Web site: LBIC – Home. 2021-05-17. www.lbic.navitas.com.
  36. Web site: The College, Swansea University – Swansea University. 2021-05-17. www.swansea.ac.uk.
  37. Web site: THPC – Home. 2021-05-17. www.thehaguepathway.nl.
  38. Web site: TPC – Home. 2021-05-17. www.twentepathway.nl.
  39. Web site: UNIC – Home. 2021-05-17. www.unic.navitas.com.
  40. Web site: Ltd. Webpagesoftware. University Academy 92. 2021-05-17. ua92.ac.uk. en-GB.
  41. Web site: FIC – Home. 2021-05-17. www.fraseric.ca.
  42. Web site: ICM – Home. 2021-05-17. www.icmanitoba.ca.
  43. Web site: RBC GSSP – Home. 2021-05-17. www.rbcglobal.com.
  44. Web site: Toronto Metropolitan University International College - Your Path to Toronto Metropolitan University . 2022-12-27 . Toronto Metropolitan University International College . en-US.
  45. Web site: UMass Boston Navitas GSSP Study in the USA. 2021-05-17. UMass Boston. en-US.
  46. Web site: Queens College – Home. 2021-05-17. www.queensgssp.com.
  47. Web site: Wilfrid Laurier International College Wilfrid Laurier University. 2021-05-17. www.wlu.ca.
  48. Web site: Home. 2021-05-17. ACTB. en.
  49. Web site: Murdoch University Dubai – Home. 2021-05-17. www.murdochuniversitydubai.com.
  50. Web site: Home. 2021-05-31. Navitas Ventures. en-US.
  51. Web site: Navitas Limited . 2015 . Navitas Limited Annual Report 2015 .
  52. Web site: Navitas Limited . 2016. Navitas Limited Annual Report 2016 .
  53. Web site: Navitas Limited . 2013 . Navitas Limited Annual Report 2013 .
  54. Web site: Navitas Limited . 2012 . Navitas Limited Annual Report 2012 .
  55. Web site: Navitas Limited . 2008 . Navitas Limited Annual Report 2008 .
  56. Web site: Navitas Newsroom . February 27, 2018 . David Buckingham to become Group Chief Executive Officer of Navitas . April 27, 2021 .
  57. Shah. Mahsood. Nair. Chenicheri Sid. 2013-10-01. Private for-profit higher education in Australia: widening access, participation and opportunities for public-private collaboration. Higher Education Research & Development. 32. 5. 820–832. 10.1080/07294360.2013.777030. 0729-4360.
  58. Shah. Mahsood. Vu. Hai Yen. Stanford. Sue-Ann. 2019-01-02. Trends in private higher education in Australia. Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education. 23. 1. 5–11. 10.1080/13603108.2018.1521348. 1360-3108.
  59. National Tertiary Education Union . 25 June 2014 . Locking in fairness at Navitas . NTEU Advocate . 21 . 2 .
  60. News: Bailey, M. . 21 May 2014 . Staff at La Trobe University Bundoora strike after negotiations with Navitas break down . Herald Sun .
  61. Web site: Evans. Michael. 19 September 2014. Media Release: La Trobe Vice Chancellor exposes real reasons for sackings. 24 May 2021. National Tertiary Education Union.
  62. Web site: Supercasuals Campaign Delivers Landmark LTM Win – Uni Casual. 2021-05-28. www.unicasual.org.au.
  63. Web site: Welcome to the Fair Work Ombudsman website. 2021-05-28. Fair Work Ombudsman. en.
  64. News: Bissett. Michelle. 3 June 2016. National Tertiary Education Union v Navitas Bundoora Pty Ltd T/A La Trobe Melbourne. Fair Work Commission.

Further reading

External links