Vishwajeet Rana et Florence Legros

L’ICN entre en négociation exclusive avec le groupe international d’enseignement supérieur GEDU Global Education qui compte déjà 60 000 étudiants dans le monde entier et dans de nombreuses spécialités. Son directeur général, Vishwajeet Rana, nous explique de concert avec la directrice générale de l’ICN, Florence Legros, les raisons qui ont conduit à ce projet de rapprochement à la suite des transactions partenariales menées par le cabinet Headway Advisory,  Un entretien exceptionnellement conduit en anglais.

Olivier Rollot: This is an event in French higher education: the ICN is entering into exclusive negotiations with an international higher education group, GEDU Global Education. What motivated this choice?
Florence Legros : We met around ten groups interested in ICN. What became clear to us very quickly was that the ideal partner is an academic group. 60% of our courses are taught by tenured professors who have to publish the results of their research. This means that you have to pay a professor eight hours’ work for each hour of teaching. This means that we had to work with a partner who is research focused and attached to high quality research.
We decided to choose GEDU because it’s a group for which the quality of teaching is crucial. In fact, one of GEDU’s key characteristics is student satisfaction, which is repeated five times. And for every item mentioned, the satisfaction rate is over 90%. ICN is a school that has long been concerned with supporting its students, even before Covid, by creating a psychologist position for its students (there are now two and a half). These are all values we share with GEDU.
Vishwajeet Rana : ICN is a triple accredited school (AACSB, Amba, Equis) in which research plays a fundamental role and meets the highest international standards. We share the values mentioned by Florence Legros, including the quality of the student experience. Together, we will be able to recruit excellent students in countries where we have a strong presence. ICN is also a global institution with strong Executive Education skills, which will contribute to its development in India, for example. In addition, GEDU is a global player which needs to be present at the highest level in France, as it already is in Germany, Spain, Ireland and Malta.

O. R : How much would GEDU’s investment in the ICN be?
V. R : A double-digit amount.

O. R : What synergies can you have? What joint projects? In France and internationally?
F. L : First of all, GEDU will bring us its knowledge of international students and help us recruit all over the world. It’s difficult for a school like ours to be present wherever GEDU is already established and recruiting students. We have to be international and recruit internationally at a time when the top French business schools are increasing their recruitment and drying up that of other schools. We also think we can find synergies with other GEDU schools. For example, with the Australian Performing Arts Conservatory (APAC) in Brisbane, Australia, which is very much in line with our ATM (art, technology and management) pedagogy.
V. R : I think, biggest synergies lie in our common values. Tripple crown of ICN, research focus and student recruitment capabilities of GEDU will go long way. Exporting French executive education to Middle east and India are good attraction for both institutions. We really want to assist in taking ICN story globally.

O. R : Mr. Rana, can you give us more details on the structure of the GEDU Global Education group. How many students do you have around the world? In what specialties?
V. R : We are a London based education group operates in Higher education, Language schools and Apprenticeship segments in 12 countries. GEDU has about 60,000 Full time students, Out of which 40,000 are studying in Europe and United Kingdom only. We have portfolio of Technology, Accounting and finance, Marketing, Business, Creative Arts, you name it.

O. R : Were you already present in France?
V. R : We already have two operations in France. One French institution and an American university campus in Paris called Schiller international University which delivers Courses in Sustainability and international diplomacy in partnership with UNITAR.

O. R: A more personal question Mr. Rana. How did you come to create a global education player?

F. L : I was born in India, then obtained a PhD in the USA before working in finance at major banks such as UBS and then HSBC. One day, I felt it was necessary to give back to higher education what it had given me by creating GEDU, which is a group focused solely on education, not real estate or finance.

O. R : The ICN is today an association. How will the legal structure evolve?
F. L : Higher education faces tremendous challenges when it comes to digital and environmental transition, or student experience. International accreditations to which ICN and GEDU are fully committed come with long term investments in research and pedagogy. As a consequence the economic model of higher education has changed and needs long term capital, which is almost impossible when your legal status is an association. Without going into the details and legal complications that I shall spare you, our legal organization will change to enable ICN to become a corporation in which the association will be a minority but key shareholder. This major change has however no impact on faculty and staff who will work under the very same agreement and contract. The association will remain highly involved in the future development of ICN and the composition of its board will be unchanged. We envisage also that the association will have a greater role in developing steering or scholarship system, for example.
V. R : It is very important in competitive world that institutions have both capital structure (Equity and Debt). Our goal is to have this flexibility and have partnership with Association to achieve common goal of ICN.

O. R: How will the ICN be managed now? Ms. Legros, will you stay in your job? How much autonomy will you have vis-à-vis GEDU?
V. R : We are committed to the autonomy of our schools and the independence of each brand. We will contribute to the development of ICN, which will remain a company in its own right.
F. L : Maintaining ICN’s autonomy was an important criterion in our choice. And indeed, I’m staying in my post at a time when we’re going through another major change in our status. In 2015, ICN was still attached to the University of Lorraine. In 2003 it was public. Twenty years on, we’re opening a new page in the history of the ICN !