Bond Supports First-of-Its-Kind Acquisition in Higher Education

March 8, 2023

(Syracuse): Bond, Schoeneck & King’s higher education practice provided the legal counsel for Hilbert College’s pending acquisition of Valley College. This transaction will mark the first time a for-profit higher education institution has been acquired by a Catholic nonprofit. While the institutions will operate independently, they will be linked under one nonprofit entity, Franciscan Services Inc. It is intended that the acquisition will serve to benefit Hilbert by expanding enrollment and increasing the educational opportunities for students.

The idea of strategically fortifying growth through merger or acquisition isn’t new to Hilbert College. Bond higher education attorney Frank Patyi, who led the transactional legal work in the Valley College acquisition said, “For years we’ve been providing legal guidance, combination due diligence and other consulting services to higher ed institutions, including Hilbert, to help them wisely approach these types of opportunities. We were excited to help them when this opportunity with Valley College arose. Acquiring a for-profit institution is an innovative idea that done right addresses some of the challenges both schools, almost all schools, face with declining high school graduation rates and demand for new workforce development programs.”

Having been an integral player in facilitating higher education institution acquisitions for close to 25 years, Patyi has worked with many institutions who were considering options such as pooling resources with other institutions, creating strategic alliances in key programmatic areas or merging with other institutions. Patyi, along with others in Bond’s higher education practice, work closely and confidentially with key institutional leaders in exploring options for mergers, strategic alliances, collaborations and acquisitions.

Bond’s higher education attorneys provide a full range of services to our 100 higher education clients. The practice group’s services routinely cover academic, business and student affairs issues; financing and construction matters; NCAA issues; commercial real estate and environmental matters; labor and employment, employee benefits and immigration matters; as well as charitable giving and development issues.

Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC is a law firm with 285 lawyers serving individuals, companies, nonprofits and public sector entities in a broad range of practice areas. Bond has 15 offices, including 10 in New York State, as well as in Florida, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Kansas.