Members have given the green light to sell Financial Services Institute of Australasia (Finsia) Education to Kaplan Inc for $36 million.
After snapping up Tribeca for $55 million last year, the US firm will have a virtual monopoly on Australian financial services education.
A postal ballot returned a result of 60 per cent in favour of the sale – but only 20 per cent of members voted.
“We don’t see it as a clear majority,” Finsia member and industry practitioner Giles Gunesekera told InvestorDaily.
“We are most disappointed about the sale as it comes at a time when there is huge demand for physical and intellectual Australian assets.
We have just sold one of the financial services industry’s best assets and that will have ramifications for our industry.
“Australia is at the forefront of education and unfortunately Finsia has just missed a major opportunity. It was for a bargain basement price also,” he said.
The Finsia board made the vote of members a condition of the sale, although there was no requirement for membership approval under the Finsia Education constitution.
Finsia president Michael Shepherd said: “It crystallises fair value for Finsia’s investment in its education business to enable us to develop and provide a wider range of services for members.
“At the same time it ensures that the quality education business we have created will continue to be developed by a well-resourced, internationally recognised tertiary education specialist in Kaplan.”
Members, practitioners, students and staff will be informed of all transition arrangements of the education business before the deal is completed.
Kaplan is a world leader in education, serving more than one million students a year in 600 locations in 33 countries.
