2021-07-13 Berkery Noyes Releases Education Industry M&A Report For Half Year 2021

NEW YORK — July 13, 2021 — Berkery Noyes, an independent mid-market investment bank, today released its half year 2021 mergers and acquisitions trend report for the Education Industry.

The report analyzes M&A activity during the first half of 2021 and compares it with the four previous six-month periods from 2019 to 2020. 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 in first half 2021 improved eight percent over second half 2020. In terms of acquirer type, private equity volume increased 39 percent whereas strategic volume declined six percent.

Aggregate deal value gained 62 percent on a half years basis, from $11.89 billion to $19.22 billion. The largest deal in first 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, rising 33 percent during the half year period, from 42 to 56 deals. Notable segment transactions in first half 2021 included Renaissance Holding Corp.’s announced acquisition of Nearpod, an edtech platform used by K-12 teachers to create interactive slides, for $650 million; and BYJU’S acquisition of Epic! Creations, which offers e-books for kids, for $500 million.

Deal volume in the Higher Ed Media and Tech segment improved 57 percent over the past six months, from 28 to 44 deals. Notable transactions in the segment year-to-date included Clarivate’s announced acquisition of ProQuest, a global software, data, and analytics provider to academic, research, and national institutions, for $5.32 billion; and 2U’s announced acquisition of edX, a massive open online course (MOOC) provider created by Harvard and MIT, for $800 million.

As for other select markets covered in the report, the combined Professional Training segments saw volume decline seven percent, from 92 to 86 deals. Meanwhile, the Childcare Services segment nearly doubled, from seven to 13 deals.

A copy of the EDUCATION INDUSTRY M&A REPORT FOR HALF YEAR 2021 is available at the Berkery Noyes website.