INTO University Partnerships

INTO University Partnerships was founded in 2005 by Andrew Colin, who also founded INTO's rival in offering international pre-degree programmes, Study Group. Following a share placing in 2013, INTO placed one quarter of its equity with New York-based Leeds Equity Partners for £66m.

In their submission to the Home Affairs Select Committee on student visas in 2011, INTO said it had "welcomed and educated almost 21,000 students from more than 138 countries and territories to the UK and provide direct employment for close to 1,350 people in the UK alone".

A research report commissioned by NAFSA identified INTO University Partnerships as one of the eight third-party providers offering pathway programmes for international students in the United States.

In May 2018, it was reported that owner and founder Colin was seeking a buyer for his INTO University Partnerships. Looking to sell INTO for US$400.1 million, Colin hired Deutsche Bank to look at strategic options after receiving a number of takeover approaches.

INTO Air controversy

According to the Civil Aviation Authority's (CAA) database on registered civil aircraft, a subsidiary, INTO Air, featured a Swiss-built Pilatus PC-12 aircraft with the registration G-INTO. An article in General Aviation magazine quoted the cost of these aircraft as starting at $4m and stated that Colin ordered a second aircraft for delivery in 2010.

INTO founder Colin credited the first corporate plane, which he had had for only a few months at the time of the interview, with transforming the way he and his UK team did business, removing much of the strain of travel, saying, "In one week we attended meetings in Glasgow and Newcastle on the Monday, Oxford and London on the Tuesday, Exeter and Birmingham on the Wednesday, Glasgow again on the Thursday and Norwich on the Friday." The registration of the plane has since been removed from the CAA database.