The US-owned Dublin Business School (DBS) has become the largest private third-level college in the State, after it acquired Portobello College yesterday.
The deal, which reflects the growth in private education in the Republic, is a coup for Ray Kearns, the founder of Portobello. The precise details of the deal remain confidential.
Mr Kearns is also the founder of the Institute of Education in Dublin's Leeson Street, the largest grind school in the State.
DBS is part of US-based education provider Kaplan - a subsidiary of The Washington Post Company. Kaplan had global earnings of $1.7 billion (€1.24 billion)last year.
Based in Dublin's Camden Street, DBS specialises in degree programmes for students who do not have the points to attend one of the "free" third-level universities or colleges. DBS courses cost about €5,000 per year.
In acquiring Portobello, DBS is able to enhance its range of courses and provide law courses for the first time. The Portobello Law School provides a range of qualifying programmes for the professional law bodies in Ireland. Last night, DBS chief executive Gerry Muldowney stressed its plans to develop the law school.
The new merged school will employ a total of about 300 full-time staff. Mr Muldowney says the merger will not lead to any job losses. The new school has the potential to deliver about 100 accredited programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate level.
Formerly known as Accountancy and Business College, DBS was established in 1975 to provide evening programmes for students preparing for accountancy exams. Since then, it has become a fully accredited institution of Liverpool John Moore's University and a designated institution of the Higher Education and Training Awards Council.
DBS has been on the acquisition trail for some time, buying LSB college in 1999 and the European Business School last year.
With its main campus on Dublin's Grand Canal, Portobello College was established in 1989 and is an accredited institution of the University of Wales.The Institute of Education raises more than €10 million a year in tuition fees. Next year, close to 1,000 students, paying €5,500 each, will sit the Leaving Cert at the institute.
Mr Kearns said: "Portobello's students and staff will benefit from the scale and access to world-class resources that come with joining DBS."
