Deu na Exame:

“Americanos oferecem R$ 2,5 bilhões pelo Objetivo

Negócio seria o maior da história do setor educacional brasileiro

O grupo americano Apollo, um dos maiores conglomerados de educação do mundo, iniciou um movimento que pode alterar drasticamente a estrutura do setor no Brasil. Segundo EXAME apurou, o Apollo fez uma oferta de aproximadamente 2,5 bilhões de reais pelo grupo Objetivo, maior empresa de educação do Brasil. Fundado pelo professor João Carlos Di Genio, o grupo é dono do colégio Objetivo e da Universidade Paulista (UNIP), tem mais de 130 000 alunos, 27 campi e 700 escolas. Para assessorá-lo na transação, Di Genio contratou o banco de investimentos Merrill Lynch. O assessor financeiro do grupo Apollo é o Morgan Stanley. Segundo um executivo próximo às negociações, a oferta é preliminar, e foi feita após um ano de aproximação entre os dois lados.“

O site do grupo tem uma informação interessante sobre seu modelo de negócio:

“Apollo Group, Inc. was founded in 1973 in response to a gradual shift in higher education demographics from a student population dominated by youth to one in which approximately half the students are adults and over 80 percent of whom work full-time. Apollo’s founder, John Sperling, believed — and events proved him right — that lifelong employment with a single employer would be replaced by lifelong learning and employment with a variety of employers. Lifelong learning requires an institution dedicated solely to the education of working adults.

Today, Apollo Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, the University of Phoenix (including University of Phoenix Online), the Institute for Professional Development, the College for Financial Planning, and Western International University, has established itself as a leading provider of higher education programs for working adults by focusing on servicing the needs of the working adult.“

Mais sobre a história do Apollo Group aqui.

Acho bom o governo começar a se preocupar mais com a vigilância sobre as universidades privadas. Uma matéria de 2005 na Businessweek informa que o Apollo Group foi alvo de uma investigação do Dept. of Education norte-americano, e teve que pagar uma multa bem alta por causa de suas táticas de vendas agressivas:

“(…) Apollo’s reputation was sullied in September with the release of the Education Dept. report. The authors depicted a high-pressure sales culture that resembled a telemarketing boiler room more than a university admissions office. “Phoenix recruiters soon find out that UOP bases their salaries solely on the number of students they recruit,” the report charged. That’s prohibited by federal law. One recruiter who started at $28,000, for instance, was bumped to $85,000 after recruiting 151 students in six months. But another who started at the same level got just a $4,000 raise after signing up 79 students.

Ultimately, such violations could have led the government to bar Phoenix from the federal student loan program, crippling the university. Nelson calls the report “very misleading and full of inaccuracies.” But he says he decided to settle rather than wage a protracted fight. Apollo agreed to change its compensation system and pay a $9.8 million fine without admitting guilt. Still, Apollo’s defenders note that the point of the law is to prevent for-profits from luring unqualified students. If Phoenix is doing that, it hasn’t showed up in student-loan default rates, which remain a low 6%.“

E isso é só parte do iceberg. Naturalmente, o caminho mais “saudável” para uma instituição com um estilo assim é ampliar seus negócios em lugares menos regulados:

“FOREIGN EXPANSION
With the regulators off its back, Apollo is once again focusing on growth. The online program, with 133,000 students, is far from saturated. And for the first time Apollo is targeting high school graduates, who are expected to hit a record later this decade. Similarly, Apollo has barely begun to scratch the international market, where experts see huge demand for U.S.-style education. Phoenix plans to open its first Mexican campus this year, and Nelson also has big hopes for China, where Apollo’s Western International University now has just 50 students.

But future growth won’t come as easily as it has in the past. Phoenix was once one of the only players online. Now it faces a lot more competition from public universities and other for-profits, warns Sean R. Gallagher, senior analyst at Eduventures Inc., a Boston-based researcher. Most worrisome, though, are the rising marketing costs. “The big question now is whether that means the economics of this business are changing,” says Gregory W. Cappelli, an analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston (CSR ).

Until that’s answered, even Cappelli, who calls Apollo “a fantastic company,” is urging a “neutral” attitude toward its stock, now at $82. This onetime star is teaching a new course in caution.“