1st Half 2019 Education Industry Trends

1ST HALF 2019 KEY HIGHLIGHTS

The largest deal in 1st Half 2019 was 2U’s announced acquisition of Trilogy Education Services, a workforce accelerator that offers skills-based training programs in high-demand tech fields at universities and companies, for $750 million.

1ST HALF 2019 KEY TRENDS

Total transaction volume in 1st Half 2019 increased by 13 percent over 2nd Half 2018, from 213 to 240.

Total transaction value in 1st Half 2019 declined by 48 percent over 2nd Half 2018, from $9.52 billion to $4.92 billion. This followed a 51 percent rise in the preceding half year period.

The median revenue multiple improved from 2.1x in 2nd Half 2018 to 2.5x in 1st Half 2019.

In the tech-based sectors, the segment with the largest rise in volume in 1st Half 2019 over 2nd Half 2018 was Higher-Ed Media and Tech with a 26 percent gain, from 27 to 34 transactions, returning to its 1st Half 2018 level.

Deal activity in the Professional Training Services segment increased 15 percent in 1st Half 2019 over 2nd Half 2018, from 47 to 54 transactions, which marked the sector’s peak volume level over the past 30 months.

M&A MARKET OVERVIEW

Berkery Noyes tracked 1,064 Education transactions between 2017 and 1st Half 2019, of which 214 disclosed financial terms, and calculated the aggregate transaction value to be $29.61 billion. Based on known transaction values, we project the values of 850 undisclosed transactions to be $7.62 billion, totaling $37.23 billion worth of transactions tracked over the past two and a half years.

Transactions from 1st Half 2017 to 1st Half 2019 with enterprise values in the $10-$20 million range had a median revenue multiple of 1.5x, whereas those above $20 million garnered a median revenue multiple of 2.7x.

Disclosed median enterprise value multiples for all segments combined in this report during the last 30 months were 2.0x revenue and 10.5x EBITDA.