SCD Advisory advises Cubane Consulting on their sale to Nous group

Founded in 2009 by Jonathan Blakeman (then Vice President Finance and Operations at University of New South Wales) and Edward Curry-Hyde (formerly at Strategy&), Cubane Consulting is a management advisory dedicated to education consulting services. The 40-strong firm has offices in Sydney, London and Toronto.

Cubane Consulting is also the brain child of UniForum – a world leading benchmarking programme that is used by over fifty universities to assess their administrative expenditures and inject a data-driven approach to strategies for more efficiency. Notable universities using UniForum are the University of Melbourne, London School of Economics, the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford, and the University of British Columbia.

Having worked together for over a decade “supporting shared university clients around the world to drive transformative change” said Nous Group chief executive Tim Orton, Nous Group has now fully acquired Cubane Consulting.

According to Orton, the pair are an excellent match. Both firms enjoy a leading track record in the education sector, and two companies have a complementary footprint – Nous Group and Cubane Consulting have operations in Australia, the UK & Ireland, and Canada.

“We believe that the insights offered by UniForum coupled with access to Nous Group’s expertise in shaping and implementing improvement programs offers our university clients the opportunity to further strengthen the strategic management of their professional and administrative services,” he said.

Commenting on why his firm joined its larger counterpart (Nous Group has over 400 consultants and staff), Curry-Hyde said: “We are delighted to leveraging the expertise, intellectual property and reputation of Nous. Together we aim to build a global leader in the education sector.”

“We look forward to our clients experiencing the benefits of this partnership,” concluded Orton and Curry-Hyde.

Pierre Briand, Founder of SCD Advisory who advised Cubane said:

This deal creates a leader in advisory in the education sector, a key sector for the Australian economy facing today fundamental transformation challenges and opportunities. As in every synergistic deal, the association of Cubane and Nous will generate excellent value-add for their clients in Australia, Canada and in the UK, where both companies are present. We wish our client Cubane, Edward and his team success with Nous.

Dr Edward Curry-Hyde, Founder of Cubane group commented:

I am delighted for Cubane, their staff and their clients, to join Nous and together build a global leader in the education sector, leveraging the expertise, IP and reputation of Cubane and Nous”. On the role of SCD Advisory, Edward added: “I am grateful to the SCD Advisory team for their tenacity during this covid-19 period and their expertise to find the best partner for Cubane. Pierre and his team have been instrumental in structuring and finalising the deal.

At SCD Advisory, we offer a range of services from deal preparation to transaction execution. Contact us at info@scdadvisory.com to find out more.