November 2009. CERAM Business School and Groupe ESC Lille have finalized their merger to become SKEMA Business School. The two French schools have launched an educational project unique in France: to create the first business school that will educate future decision-makers to create a more responsible, ethical and interconnected world; the world of the knowledge economy.

The merger was announced on June 30, 2009, and a restructuring followed, which included sharing and optimizing the human, academic and teaching resources of the two schools. The schools officially merged on November 16, both legally and financially, to become a nonprofit association, after approval by their governing bodies: the Board of Directors of ESC Lille, and the General Assembly of the French Riviera Chamber of Commerce.

This is the first time that two institutions of this size and importance have voluntarily merged.

A new name, a new identity: a benchmark in a multi-polar world "This new identity is above all the achievement of an ambitious project: to create a school of leadership, present throughout the world, to educate those decision-makers who are able to understand their environment, adapt to and generate sustainable performance. This new identity represents the school’s ambition: to be a reference on an international level in the world of business schools. An innovative and different reference, distinguished by a clear vision of the new business environment: the knowledge economy," said Alice Guilhon, Dean of the new school.

Derived from the Greek skhêma (shape, figure, formation of an object), meaning schema in Latin, the name is meant to be a reference to the new shared mental patterns and methodologies needed to adapt to the new business challenges of the 21st century. The derivative, School of Knowledge Economy and Management, confirms its readability and its international anchor in the fundamentals of the Business School. It also reflects the strength of the brand and its "constructive" aim with its innovative teaching methods based on the letter “K.” An unusual letter, it creates a visual and sonic cue, and it also symbolizes the power to differentiate the brand: Knowledge.

"This new brand aims to be both a sign of rupture and fidelity. It is a rupture because the new school will not merely be the sum of CERAM and ESC Lille. Alice Guilhon and I wanted this merger because we share the same future vision, the same dream, the same desire to invent and create a school that intelligently addresses the modern world. To leave the old model and use the means provided by this merger to project the new approaches to Knowledge through various international campuses is bold but realistic. With its Greco-Latin roots, this brand is also the symbol of the new school’s fidelity for the territories where its roots are. The school will be international, it will not be stateless," said Jean-Pierre Raman, former Dean of ESC Lille and General Delegate of the new school.

This new identity is the DNA of the school and reflects the values it conveys:

The DNA:

- The knowledge economy - International
- Sustainable performance
- Willingness to undertake and innovate

Values:

- Humanism - Multiculturalism and diversity
- The pride of our territories

SKEMA Business School, already the largest French school in terms of student numbers, second in number of teachers and fifth in terms of budget, wishes to multiply over the next few months the two founding schools’ potential for the benefit of its students, graduates, business partners and its territories.