On June 13, 2023, University of Fredericton (UFred) announced its acquisition by one of the foremost global leaders in online education, IU Group, proprietor of IU International University of Applied Sciences (IU). UFred, a leading online university based in Fredericton, New Brunswick, was founded in 2005 with the aim of democratizing education and empowering working professionals across Canada and internationally.
The acquisition of UFred by IU comes after many years of significant growth in the prominence of online education globally. UFred, which currently has nearly 4,000 active students and has educated more than 12,000 professionals across Canada, has been working to revolutionize the way that online students study, providing engaging, industry-informed education for working professionals that otherwise may not have been able to return to their studies.
BLG represented IU Group with a team led by Stefan Timms (M&A / Corporate) that included Kyle Denomme (M&A / Corporate), Tasy Bacolias (M&A / Corporate), Marc Abdelsayed (M&A / Corporate), Steve Suarez (Tax), Natasha Miklaucic (Tax), Geneviève Bergeron (IP), Clara Chow (IP), Natasha Gulati (IP), Elisa Henry (Privacy), François Joli-Cœur (Privacy), Shane Morganstein (Privacy), Denes Rothschild (Competition), James Fu (Labour & Employment), Alexis Renaud (Labour & Employment), Andrew Guerrisi (Commercial Real Estate), Samantha Lo (Commercial Real Estate), Gus Karantzoulis (Financial Services), Christine Mason (Financial Services) and Markus Kremer (Disputes).