After the news recently http://www.topmba.com/blog/ashridge-business-school-strategic-partnership-talks-mba-news it's been announced that Hult and Ashridge are joining forces. The press release is at http://www.ashridge.org.uk/website/content.nsf/wCOR/Ashridge%20and%20Hult%20form%20strategic%20alliance?opendocument

In an email to Ashridge alumni, the school confirmed that: "Under the alliance, Ashridge and Hult will remain as separate entities, for the foreseeable future, with their own brands, programmes and management. In the short term, the two organisations will be collaborating closely and in the longer term, the aim is to merge the top management of the two organisations. (....)"

"The alliance will make significant investment in a number of areas:
First, growing our education offerings to become a global leader by utilising Hult?s international locations, to serve clients all around the world
Second, further developing our research capability by creating the Ashridge Institute dedicated to producing research relevant to you
Third, continuing to develop innovative e-learning platforms to enable the launch of a range of hybrid academic and executive education programmes
Fourth, enhancing the facilities at Ashridge House to make it an even more special experience for you.?

The union is described as a strategic partnership, but the schools will have one management and a common alumni network. Party because of Ashridge's charitable status, the two schools will remain separate brands.

I'm not sure if Hult's brand equity is universally recognised. It has almost no traction with major MBA employers and no beachhead in executive education, which is the profitable bit of business schools. Ashridge has a Royal Charter, allowing it to accredit other institutions and to awards its own degrees: see, for example, the new undergraduate degrees it just launched with Pearson. It gets a very senior alumni network (Ashridge's EMBA was one of the top 20 in the world until several years ago). It also has Ashridge House, where our Parliament sat, and where Elizabeth the first lived as a child. I think those are all assets that Hult and EF can create more value with. But the real deal is in pre-experience programmes: look at what IE has done...