BPP, a UK-based professional learning company with a substantial presence in the Island, has proposed buying 82.5 per cent of the Jersey International Business School.
Both companies provide educational and training services for finance sector workers. The purchase, which would see BPP gain more than a 25 per cent market share, was referred to the Channel Islands Competition and Regulatory Authorities for approval last month.
Following an investigation, CICRA has decided that the purchase can proceed because it would ‘not lead to a substantial lessening of competition in any relevant market’.
The report on the decision says that the two companies offer training for different professional qualifications and training for different sub-sectors of the finance industry, such as tax, accountancy and fiduciary services.
It adds that the companies’ work only overlaps in the field of face-to-face ‘professional development’.
‘BPP CI currently provides professional development in subjects such as tax, accounting, soft skills and funds,’ the report says.
‘JIBS provides face-to-face professional development training in technical subjects such as AML, financial crime, trust and company compliance. However, the parties do not overlap in terms of sector-specific professional development training.
‘Given that there is no overlap in the sector-specific training and qualifications provided by the parties in Jersey, there is no significant lessening of competition as a result of the transaction.’
