A subsidiary of the Washington Post Company has bought the Dublin Business School as a launch pad into Europe's private college market

Four directors of the private college, the Dublin Business School (DBS), are the main beneficiaries of a multi-million euro deal involving a subsidiary of the Washington Post Company.

The subsidiary, Kaplan, has purchased DBS for an undisclosed purchase price.

Kaplan intends to use DBS as a launching pad into the European private colleges market.

Four directors of DBS stand to benefit: chief executive Mr Michael Meagher; his wife and director of marketing Ms Olivia Meagher; financial controller Mr Donal Quill; and the director of the college's business school, Mr Gerard Muldowney.

DBS consists of several trading companies which together made pre-tax profits of about €900,000 in the year to June 2002. Accounts for the year to June 2003 are expected to show pre-tax profits of €1.5 million.

The school was set up in 1975 and specialises in broad-based business courses and professional accountancy qualifications.

Former UCD academic, Prof Brian Farrell, president of DBS, said the school would benefit greatly from the link-up with Kaplan.

He said it would help DBS move to the next level.

"Kaplan has an exceptional track record of acquiring and growing many schools in the US, infusing resources to introduce new programmes, improve facilities, achieve higher levels of accreditation and serve growing' student populations," he said.

Prof Farrell said that while the deal was a milestone for DBS, students would not notice any day-to-day difference and the college's programmes would not be altered.

Kaplan is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Washington Post Company, which is quoted on the New York Stock Exchange.

Kaplan owns 60 third-level schools in the United States offering programmes in healthcare, business, IT and legal studies.

The company also has a sizeable business in setting and scoring exam papers. Another division, Score, offers after-school learning programmes for children.

The company had €732 million in turnover in 2002 and for the first nine months of 2003 reported turnover of €707 million.

The chief executive of Kaplan, Mr Jonathan Grayer, said the DBS deal was "an important strategic investment" which allowed the company to bring its resources to the European market.

Mr Harold O Levy, Kaplan's senior vice-president, said the company had provided education services to some of the world's leading companies and there was no reason why that could not be repeated at DBS.

The Republic has traditionally had few privately owned third- level colleges with the university sector mainly funded by the State.

State-funded institutions do not charges fees, unlike DBS and others.

A few years ago, DBS acquired LSB College in a major deal in the private college arena. That deal gave DBS significant scale in the industry, with Portobello College and Griffith College also active in the private colleges market in Dublin.