IBM Canada announced on Wednesday that it will give $65-million worth of computers and software to Ontario’s Western University, MetroNews Canada says.

The gift is part of a $210-million research and development consortium unveiled last week involving the technology firm, Western, and the University of Toronto. The partners plan to build a cloud-computing network that can rapidly harvest and analyze data related to health care, energy, and other large-scale social and environmental challenges.

In other education news, a $6-billion equity firm has purchased Britain’s College of Law, the first such deal in the United Kingdom between a private company and a nonprofit degree-granting institution, the BBC reports.

Montagu Private Equity will pay close to $320-million after submit the winning bid to acquire the school, which offers law courses in London and at regional centers around England. The proceeds will be used to establish a charity arm distinct from the school’s course business that will provide scholarship and tuition subsidies.

Nigel Savage, the college’s chief executive, hailed the sale as ushering in “an exciting new era” for the school, which was founded as a charity in the 1960s. But the University and College Union, which represents academic staff, warned that the deal would open the door for colleges to become tools in private-equity buy-outs.