Gisma rescued by for-profit education company

Gisma, the Hannover-based business school which hit financial problems earlier this year, has been bailed out by Global University Systems (Gus), the for-profit education group that owns the London School of Business and Finance.

Gisma, which has run both a full-time and Executive MBA with the Krannert school at Purdue University in the US, began the insolvency process in Germany in June. A spokesperson for Krannert said that the school had not been asked about a continuing role by Gus, and given Purdue’s portfolio of global commitments there were no further immediate plans to work directly with Gisma. However, Krannert would help those students caught out by the changes, if appropriate.

Gisma also runs a weekend MBA with Leibniz Universität Hannover, and this relationship will continue, says Ann-Kathrin Fortmann, senior executive director at Gisma.

The London-based Association of MBAs, which accredits Gisma’s MBA programmes, is expecting a full report on the acquisition in the next few weeks, according to a spokesperson there. Gisma will also be undergoing a full re-accreditation visit in the first half of 2014, according to Amba.

According to Gus, which is a privately owned company headquartered in Amsterdam, Gisma’s operations will remain separate from those of the other seven partner organisations, several of which are based in London – London College of Contemporary Arts, London School of Business & Finance and School of Fashion & Design London.

Sinning Bredemeier, chief executive of Gisma, told the FT in June that there were a number factors contributing to the school's insolvency, including a downturn in student numbers in 2012. Gisma started life in 1999 as a joint initiative between the state of Lower Saxony and local businesses.