Osborne Clarke advises Galileo on acquisition of AKAD University

Osborne Clarke has advised the international education group Galileo Global Education Germany on the acquisition of the distance learning university AKAD University (AKAD), which will enable it to further expand its position in the online higher education segment. The previous owner of AKAD University was AURELIUS Equity Opportunities SE & Co. KGaA. 

AKAD is Germany's oldest state-recognised private distance learning university with headquarters in Stuttgart and 33 examination centres across Germany. Over 66,000 graduates belong to its alumni network. Currently, around 12,000 adults are enrolled in the 78 predominantly part-time distance learning courses with Bachelor's, Master's and MBA degrees as well as the more than 100 continuing education options. 

AURELIUS took over AKAD from Franz Cornelsen Bildungsgruppe in April 2014 and has since extensively repositioned the company. With a total of 63 newly introduced study programmes, the number of new students has increased by an average of more than 20 per cent per year. In 2021, AKAD achieved an annual turnover of EUR 17 million. 

The Osborne Clarke team advising Galileo Global Education Germany, led by Philip Meichssner (Corporate / M&A), consisted of Lorenz Chwaszcza, Johanna Baumann and Maria Eder (all Corporate / M&A), Dr Tim Reinhard, Konstantin Sitte and Verena-Maria Lechner (all IP), Dr Hendrik Schöttle, Dr. Marc Störing, Adrian Schneider, Cédric Ludwig, Neil Weaver and Raphael Wager (all IT), Florian Merkle and Jan-Niklas Buttermann (both Tax), Dr Thomas Leister and André Braig (both Employment), Thomas Schnabel, Laura-Sophie Schroers and Theresa Viegener (all Real Estate) and Jan Marco Aatz (Antitrust).