1st Half 2021 Education Industry Trends

1ST HALF 2021 KEY HIGHLIGHTS

The largest deal in 1st Half 2021 was Platinum Equity’s announced acquisition of McGraw-Hill, a learning company that offers digital educational content and assessment solutions, for $6.39 billion.

K-12 Media and Tech overtook Professional Training Services as the industry’s most active market segment year-to-date.

1ST HALF 2021 KEY TRENDS

Total transaction volume in 1st Half 2021 improved by eight percent over 2nd Half 2020, from 222 to 240.

In terms of acquirer type, strategic volume declined six percent on a half year basis, from 152 to 143. Meanwhile, private equity volume increased 39 percent, from 70 to 97.

Total transaction value in 1st Half 2021 gained 62 percent over 2nd Half 2020, from $11.89 billion to $19.22 billion.

The median revenue multiple rose from 2.7x in 2nd Half 2020 to 4.2x in 1st Half 2021, which was its peak over the past two and a half years.

The technology based segment with the largest rise in volume in 1st Half 2021 over 2nd Half 2020 was Higher-Ed Media and Tech with a 57 percent gain, from 28 to 44 transactions.

The services based segment with the largest rise in volume in 1st Half 2021 over 2nd Half 2020 was Childcare Services with an 86 percent gain, from seven to 13 transactions.

M&A MARKET OVERVIEW

Berkery Noyes tracked 1,152 Education transactions between 2019 and 1st Half 2021, of which 203 disclosed financial terms, and calculated the aggregate transaction value to be $42.65 billion. Based on known transaction values, we project the values of 949 undisclosed transactions to be $10.86 billion, totaling $53.52 billion worth of transactions tracked over the past two and a half years.

Transactions from 1st Half 2019 to 1st Half 2021 with enterprise values in the $10-$20 million range had a median revenue multiple of 2.2x, whereas those above $160 million garnered a median revenue multiple of 5.1x.

Disclosed median enterprise value multiples for all segments combined in this report during the last 30 months were 2.8x revenue and 8.8x EBITDA.