2019-07-10 Berkery Noyes Releases Education Industry M&A Report For Half Year 2019
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NEW YORK — July 10, 2019 — Berkery Noyes, an independent mid-market investment bank, today released its half year 2019 mergers and acquisitions trend report for the Education Industry.
The report analyzes M&A activity during the first half of 2019 and compares it with the four previous six-month periods from 2017 to 2018. This market includes information and technology companies servicing the Education Industry, including the Childcare Services, K-12, Post-Secondary, and Corporate and Professional Training segments.
Total transaction volume increased 13 percent on a half year basis. Aggregate value declined 48 percent, from $9.52 billion to $4.92 billion. This followed a 51 percent rise in the preceding half year period. The peak for volume over the previous five half year periods occurred in first half 2019, whereas value reached its zenith in second half 2018.
Deal volume in the K-12 Media and Tech segment increased 11 percent in first half 2019. Notable acquirers in the segment year-to-date included ACT with the acquisition of Mawi Learning, which provides a suite of social emotional learning (SEL) tools and services for school districts; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt with the acquisition of Waggle, a web-based adaptive learning platform provides differentiated Math and ELA instruction for students in grades 2 through 8; Scholastic with the acquisition of Make Believe Ideas, a UK-based publisher of children’s books; and Weld North with the acquisitions of Glynlyon, a digital curriculum company; and Assessment Technology, Inc. (ATI), a provider of instructional improvement and effectiveness technology.
The number of transactions in the Professional Training Services segment gained 12 percent on a half year basis, whereas volume in the Professional Training Technology segment remained nearly constant. High profile acquirers in the combined Professional Training segments year-to-date included 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; Morgan Stanley Capital Partners’ acquisition of Project Management Academy, which offers training for the career-critical Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification; and QA’s acquisition of Cloud Academy, an enterprise technology training platform with more than 500 certification courses and 1,500 instructor-led courses.
As for other select markets covered in the report, Higher Ed-Media and Tech volume increased 26 percent during the half year period, from 27 to 34 acquisitions. The Higher-Ed Institutions segment saw a 38 percent improvement, from 21 to 29 deals, while volume in the K-12 Institutions segment doubled, from 12 to 24 transactions.
A copy of the EDUCATION INDUSTRY M&A REPORT FOR HALF YEAR 2019 is available at the Berkery Noyes website.