1ST HALF 2014 KEY HIGHLIGHTS

  • The most active acquirer year-to-date was Providence Equity Partners with five industry transactions: PerceptIS, LLC, SIDEARM Sports Inc., Licensing Resource Group, AchieveGlobal, and MyEdu.
  • Two transactions reached the $1 billion threshold in 1st Half 2014, both of which were backed by private equity firms: Charterhouse Capital Partners’ $2.3 billion acquisition of SkillSoft and Hellman & Friedman’s $1.1 billion acquisition of Renaissance Learning.

1ST HALF 2014 KEY TRENDS

  • Total transaction volume in 1st Half 2014 increased by nine percent over 2nd Half 2013, from 147 to 160.
  • Total transaction value in 1st Half 2014 rose by 45 percent over 2nd Half 2013, from $4.08 billion to $5.90 billion.
  • The peak for deal volume and value over the past two and a half years occurred in 1st Half 2014.
  • The median revenue multiple in 1st Half 2014 remained constant at 2.2x. However, median value saw a significant gain.
  • The segment with the largest increase in volume in 1st Half 2014 over 2nd Half 2013 was K-12 Media and Tech with a 50 percent rise, from 22 to 33 transactions. Professional Training Services, the industry’s second most active segment, was another growth area with a 19 percent improvement, from 27 to 32 transactions.

M&A Market Overview

Berkery Noyes tracked 731 Education transactions between 2012 and 1st Half 2014, of which 183 disclosed financial terms, and calculated the aggregate transaction value to be $18.41 billion. Based on known transaction values, we project the values of 548 undisclosed transactions to be $2.19 billion, totaling $20.60 billion worth of transactions tracked over the past two and a half years.

Disclosed median enterprise value multiples for all segments combined in this report during the last 30 months were 1.9x revenue and 10.4x EBITDA.