Manatee County’s IMG Academy sold to Hong Kong-based company for $1.25 billion
BRADENTON, Fla. - As students return to campus at IMG Academy, their school will have a new owner.
The powerhouse sports school’s now former owner, Endeavor Group Holdings, sold the school to Hong Kong-based BPEA Equity in an all-cash deal for $1.25 billion at the end of June. Nord Anglia Education was also a partner in the transaction.
"I think that's the greatest opportunity for us in the transaction, is a new partnership with Nord Anglia Education," IMG Academy President Tim Pernetti said.
Nord Anglia has 82 schools in countries across the globe.
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"[It’s] one of the most prominent global education brands there is. So, for us, we're excited about the academic collaboration that can take place between the two entities," Pernetti explained.
"We've been approached more times than I think anybody can remember about the opportunity [to sell]. I would tell you that we're very particular about the brand. We're very particular about who we partner with. You know, this place didn't just fall out of the air yesterday. It took 40 years to get to this point," he said. "When you have a group like Equity, Nord Anglia that are aligned in their serious investment in the intentional personal development of young people, that was an immediate box that got checked," Pernetti continued.
IMG Academy is a school geared towards students interested in sports.
Nord Anglia works with schools like Julliard and MIT, he said. Pernetti said this deal will provide more opportunities for students, faculty and staff members, like further enhancing and diversifying the curriculum.
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"The new partnership gives us access into more areas of global education than I think we had in the past," he said. "You can envision almost like an exchange program. Like, the students from IMG Academy have the ability to attend and learn and be in the academic environment at Nord Anglia schools somewhere else in the world. Do students at Nord Anglia schools that are serious about sports education have the opportunity to be at IMG Academy and participate in that experience? It's a little early to call, but I think the possibilities there are really endless," Pernetti shared.
"For all of the parties involved, I think it was a tremendous result," he added.
The partnership will provide new opportunities for students.
The deal became official at the beginning of July.
Pernetti said the deal won’t change the school’s focus on sports and education, or its brand. He said it also allows them to continue to grow and invest in what he called the academy’s "experience." Right now, they’re building a fourth dorm, expanding the campus center and plan to add women’s volleyball this fall, the school’s ninth sport.
As far as tuition, it won’t change for this school year, and IMG said they haven’t talked about tuition moving forward.