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FE colleges to seek legal professional advisers for proposed merger

Two further education colleges are to procure providers of legal due diligence services for their proposed merger.

East Riding College and Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education will be appointing independent of each other.

East Riding College said: “It is anticipated that the tenderer will apply for one or the other but not both. The project requires capable professional resources to be available immediately in order to support the due diligence phase of the project as the Colleges intend to start this process imminently and to complete it within a tight timeframe.”

It added that the objective of the legal due diligence report would be to provide an assurance that the transferee college is capable of taking on the assets and liabilities of the transferring college and comfort over the legal viability of the transferee college once it has taken on students, staff, assets and liabilities of the transferring college.

East Riding College said the colleges required that by the end of the due diligence timetable they:

  • are in receipt of a due diligence report and supporting documentation to enable the colleges to make an assessment of the merger opportunity;
  • have all the information needed to be able to make a fully informed decision as to whether to proceed with the merger.

“A prime objective of the professional adviser will be to identify any key issues and risks in connection with the proposed merger,” it added.

The closing date is 16 October 2019. The contract start date is 28 October 2019 and the end date is 31 December 2019.