Monash to sell South Africa campus to for-profit firm

Australia’s Monash University will sell its South Africa campus to a for-profit education company for a sum equating to around £17.6 million.

Monash South Africa was established in Johannesburg in 2000, and now has capacity for about 6,500 students. The campus will be sold to Advtech in a R340 million deal, Business Insider reported.

The Monash name will no longer be used, said the next owners. “We may use ‘MSA’ as the brand, that’s one of the options, or there may be synergies with some of our existing brands,” said Felicity Coughlan, group academic director at Advtech.

The company “has some 30,000 tertiary students enrolled at its institutions, most of them on degree tracks”, Business Insider said.

Monash had been looking for a partner to take over the South African institution for some time, according to Ms Coughlan, “and Advtech’s track record gave Monash comfort that existing students would be well catered for”, the website added.

Monash has its main base in Melbourne and a branch campus in Malaysia.

john.morgan@timeshighereducation.com