London : THE (Times Higher Education), the world’s leading provider of higher education data and insights, is delighted to have completed the acquisition of higher education consultancy The Knowledge Partnership (TKP).

The Knowledge Partnership is known globally for its strategy, marketing and communications consultancy, and as the founder of the World 100 Reputation Network, the only professional global network for leaders managing the reputations of the world’s best universities.

It joins THE’s portfolio of companies at an exciting time. THE, formerly part of TES Global, was acquired by Inflexion Private Equity in February 2019 following a period of rapid global growth, with offices in the UK, US, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore collecting data from more than 3,500 universities and working with 800 clients globally across its data, consultancy and hiring services.

While The Knowledge Partnership will continue to operate independently under the TKP branding, the two businesses will leverage their insights and relationships to strengthen THE’s global reach in the consultancy space and provide even stronger market intelligence and strategic consulting services to the world’s best universities.

Louise Simpson, who founded TKP with David Roberts, said: “THE and TKP already have a long history of collaboration through research, events and sharing platforms. By bringing our two companies together under the THE brand, we’re able to share our rich depositories of data and experience of the higher education sector to take that relationship to the next level. With our combined expertise, we will provide even deeper insights for universities across the globe. It promises to be a very exciting time.”

Paul Howarth, CEO at THE, commented: “Despite Covid-19, THE continues to experience the rapid organic growth it has seen over the past five years of its evolution into a powerful global data business. Now, with the backing of our investors at Inflexion Private Equity, we’re in a position to strengthen our position in the market through strategic acquisitions, like that of TKP. We look forward to working with Louise, David and the wider TKP team to provide an unparalleled global data insight service for higher education.”