Malvern International completes acquisition of Communicate English Schools

Global learning and skills development firm Malvern International on Monday acquired Manchester-based language school Communicate English Schools Limited for a consideration of £2.34m.

Malvern said that an application for admission to trading on AIM has been made in respect of 13.8m consideration shares related to the acquisition, with trading expected to commence on 4 July.

The Communicate School of English opened in 2010 and has had students from 68 different countries in the past 12 months.

The acquisition followed a May placing to raise £4m and is the second deal resultant from Malvern’s acquisition strategy, having acquired and integrated Singapore-based firm SAA-GE in November.

Speaking in May, Malvern chairman Gopinath Pillai said: "The strength of offering students a wide choice of course subjects and locations, coupled with the flexibility of being able to study across multiple sites and online, sets Malvern apart. The new management team under Dr Sam Malafeh has a strong growth strategy which is starting to demonstrate its true potential which is very exciting. We look forward to updating the market on further progress in due course."

As of 1539 BST, Malvern International’s shares were up 2.84% at 7.25p.