There is currently renewed interest in transnational education (TNE) amongst UK universities as a means of taking education to the 98% of tertiary students worldwide who are geographically immobile. In this discourse, the home universities are characterised as the dominant players, seeking strategic opportunities to commercially expand into foreign markets. This paper argues that, in contrast, there are four key stakeholders in TNE--the home university, the partner organisation, the host government and students in the host country--and a TNE partnership is shaped by their relative power and motivations. The paper finds that unless the motivations of stakeholders are broadly aligned to the form of TNE partnership, it is unlikely to succeed. It highlights the fluid nature of these motivations which change over time--often slowly, but sometimes abruptly when there is a change in university strategy or policy on the part of the host government.