Follett School Solutions, the K-12 division sold by parent Follett Corporation to Francisco Partners at the beginning of September, announced that it will close its school book fair business: “Due to the pandemic, Follett School Solutions has made the difficult decision to exit the Follett Book Fair business, effective November 15, 2021,” the company said in a brief statement. They added, “On this date, we will also pause our eFair business and will reevaluate this offering in the future.” CEO Britten Follett indicated to SLJ they have been getting as many as 50 cancellations a week and “there was no real […]
Education
Follett School Solutions Acquired By Francisco Partners
Follett Corporation has sold Follett School Solutions, the company’s K-12 software and content division, to tech-focused investment firm Francisco Partners, which owns the K-12 education-focused businesses Renaissance Learning, Discovery Education, Freckle, myON and Mystery Science. Earlier in the year, Francisco bought VitalSource from Ingram Content Group. The terms of the deal were not announced. Follett Corporation will continue to own and operate college bookstores through the Follett Higher Education Group, as well as what remains of Baker & Taylor. Britten Follett, a fifth-generation family member, will become ceo of FSS Content, while Paul Ilse, former ceo of Discovery Education (another […]
McGraw Hill to Acquire Achieve3000
McGraw Hill was the winning bidder in the sale of New Jersey-based edtech company Achieve3000. The deal is expected to close within 60 days, and it underscores support for McGraw from their new private equity owners at Platinum Equity. Terms were not disclosed, but earlier in August, sources told PE Hub that Achieve3000 had sales of about $100 million and EBITDA of $50 million, looking for a robust valuation of over $700 million. In the announcement, managing director at Platinum Equity Luke Myers, said: “We are making good on our pledge to help McGraw Hill accelerate its digital transformation, which […]
McGraw Hill to be Sold to Platinum Equity
Private equity firm Apollo Global’s long journey with McGraw Hill is coming to an end, with an agreement to sell the publisher to yet another private equity company, Platinum Equity. The deal is valued at $4.5 billion including debt. With debt at the end of 2020 of about $2.23 billion, it means the new owner is actually spending (or further borrowing) about $2.25 billion, and taking on about that much in existing debt. McGraw Hill’s planned merger with Cengage was abandoned in May 2020 after facing objections from regulators in the US and UK. Prior to that, the company had […]
Wiley Reports a Strong Fourth Quarter, with a Favorable Outlook
Wiley reported fourth quarter and fiscal year results for the period ended April 30, with sales of $536 million, up from $474.6 million, a 13 percent increase, including $14.8 million in foreign exchange variance and acquisitions. Operating income was $51.2 million, improved from a loss of ($170.7) million a year ago, and adjusted EBITDA was $112.7 million, up from $92.8 million. Academic & Professional Learning (which includes trade books) grew 15 percent as reported, “driven by strong growth in Education Publishing and trade publishing, accompanied by further recovery in corporate training.” For the full year, sales were $1.94 billion, up […]
Corporate: McGraw Hill and Pearson Offer Highlights of Results to Come
McGraw Hill offered brief preliminary highlights of their fiscal fourth quarter (ending March 31) and full year 2021 results. For the quarter, overall billings grew 21 percent, with 12 percent growth in higher ed billings. Adjusted EBITDA grew in the fourth quarter, thanks to strong billings and savings from the completed “cost rationalization program.” The company says higher ed billings grew 5 percent for the year, and digital billings grew 17 percent, but did not provide data on overall billings for the year. “Despite challenging environment in FY2021, MH demonstrated resiliency and focused on supporting institutions, educators and learnings during […]