Jackim Woods & Co. Leads Buy-Side Roll-Up in the CDL Training Sector

When a large Title IV vocational college set out to acquire multiple commercial-driver-license (CDL) training schools, they turned to Jackim Woods & Co. for a focused, results-driven buy-side campaign — and we delivered. Below is how we helped them navigate complexity, act with speed, and close acquisitions that strengthen their national footprint.

What the Mandate Was

Our client’s objective was to acquire one or more high-quality CDL training providers in key U.S. states, to build scale quickly as part of a national roll-up strategy. Their criteria were strict: geographic location, size, proximity to major airports (for future logistics), and the potential for seamless integration into a growing national CDL division.

Our client had a regulatory and strategic mandate to close by end of 2025, and to hit a combined CDL-division revenue target of at least $6 million. By working swiftly and eliminating unnecessary delays, we met those targets, positioning our client for full compliance — and for accelerated growth.

Our role at Jackim Woods & Co. was to represent the buyer, source targets, and manage the acquisition process from first outreach through closing.

The first CDL acquisition we helped them close was CL Driving Academy — a premier commercial driver training center located in Charlotte, NC. Three months later, we helped them acquire Apex Technical Institute, a leading CDL school in Kansas City, KS.

How We Worked: Our Value-Added Buy-Side Process

1. Highly Targeted & Data-Driven Deal Sourcing
   We began with a broad universe — roughly 693 potential CDL school targets — then filtered that down to around 300 that met our client’s criteria (geography, size, infrastructure, airport proximity, and more). This data-driven screening ensured that we spent the client’s time on only the most promising candidates.
2. Proactive Outreach & Seller Engagement
   Using a mix of personalized emails and phone outreach, we contacted each owner/operator in the filtered target list. That initial campaign produced 15 schools interested in further discussion.
   We then conducted introductory calls with 12, arranged six conference calls between our client and potential sellers — and helped formulate offers on two schools
3. Fast, Focused Execution & Negotiation
   In the case of CL Driving Academy, our campaign from first contact to closing wrapped up in just 92 days.

   For Apex Technical Institute, the process took 184 days — a slightly longer timeline because we needed to negotiate a post-closing employment contract with the owner to assume a leadership role and manage our client’s multi-state CDL division.

4. Strategic Integration Planning (Owner-Operator Retention)
   Recognizing the importance of leadership continuity in a roll-up, we helped our client identify a strategic leader who could help them manage their growing CDL division. negotiate a deal structure that retained the prior owner of Apex Technical Institute — bringing him in as Divisional Vice President for the new national CDL business. This eased transition, preserved institutional knowledge, and boosted the credibility of the combined enterprise.

Outcome & What It Means

Thanks to our buy-side advisory, our client successfully acquired two high-quality CDL training schools, giving them an immediate multi-state presence in a consolidating industry. More importantly, they gained not just assets — but operational leadership and a scalable platform for future acquisitions.

From a strategic perspective, this gives them:

• A streamlined path to national scale in the fragmented CDL training market.
• Operational leverage via back-office and administrative consolidation.
• Enhanced negotiating power with large carriers or employers seeking to hire CDL-trained graduates.
• A foundation to continue roll-up efforts — strengthened by credibility, cash capital, and a proven acquisition process.

Why Jackim Woods & Co. Was the Right Partner

Our success hinged on combining deep domain expertise with disciplined process execution:

• We know the vocational education and CDL-training sector — enabling us to build immediate credibility with school owners.
• We executed a comprehensive, data-driven target search — not a scattershot approach.
• We engaged directly and persistently with owners, building trust and opening doors for negotiation.
• We drove speed without sacrificing due diligence or post-closing strategy.

If you’re a buyer seeking to acquire assets in a fragmented sector — whether education, vocational training, logistics, or other specialized services — we offer a proven, structured buy-side process that gets results.

Meet the Dealmaker Behind the Strategy

Richard Jackim is founder of Jackim Woods & Co and the head of our education group. A former Wall Street attorney and bulge-bracket investment banker, Richard has advised on over 120 transactions totaling more than $2.3 billion in market value. Since he founded the Exit Planning Institute and sold it in 2012, he has focused on privately-held small and mid-sized companies in the education sector — including vocational schools, training and certification providers, edtech companies, and niche educational assets. He is a frequent author of white papers on education M&A and has spoken at industry summits.

Contact us to Learn More

If you represent a private equity firm, vocational college, or strategic buyer — and considering making an acquisition in education, training, or other specialized sectors — reach out. We’ll build a tailored buy-side acquisition campaign designed to move with speed, discretion, and strategic clarity.  Contact: Rich Jackim at rjackim@jackimwoods.com

The Skills Gap Crisis: Why Small Colleges Must Act Now or Risk Obsolescence

The Enrollment Cliff Is Here—And It’s Accelerating

Small colleges across America are facing an existential crisis. Enrollment at institutions with fewer than 2,000 students has plummeted by an average of 35% since 2010, with some schools losing more than half their student body. The reasons are stark: declining birth rates, soaring tuition costs, and perhaps most critically, a fundamental shift in how students and employers view the value of traditional liberal arts education.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth that most college presidents and board members are reluctant to acknowledge: students aren’t just leaving because college is expensive—they’re leaving because traditional degrees no longer guarantee career outcomes.

In 2024, 94% of students said they wanted micro-credentials and industry certifications to count toward their degrees, up from just 55% the year before. Meanwhile, 85% of employers now say they’re more likely to hire candidates with specific vocational credentials than those with only traditional liberal arts degrees. The message is clear: the market has spoken, and it’s demanding skills-based education.

For small colleges still operating under the old playbook, this represents an adapt-or-die moment. But for those willing to act strategically, it also represents the greatest growth opportunity in higher education today.

The Liberal Arts Paradox: Essential Skills, Unemployable Graduates

Don’t misunderstand—the core value proposition of liberal arts education remains powerful. Critical thinking, communication, analytical reasoning, and cultural literacy are more important than ever in our complex global economy. The problem isn’t that these skills are worthless; it’s that they’ve become invisible to employers who lack the time or framework to recognize them.

When a hiring manager sees a resume with a philosophy degree, they don’t automatically think “excellent analytical thinker who can solve complex problems.” They think “unemployable idealist who can’t contribute to the bottom line.” This perception gap has created a vicious cycle: students avoid liberal arts programs because they fear unemployment, employers continue to overlook liberal arts graduates because they see so few of them, and colleges respond by desperately trying to make their programs more “practical”, often in superficial ways that satisfy no one.

The solution isn’t to abandon liberal arts education. It’s to combine it with immediately recognizable, market-validated credentials that make those essential liberal arts skills visible and valuable to employers.

The Vocational Micro-Credentials Revolution: A $1.9 Billion Opportunity

The vocational micro-credentials market is exploding, projected to reach $1.9 billion by 2029. But this isn’t just about digital badges or online certificates, it’s about a fundamental restructuring of how education creates value.

Here’s what’s driving this transformation:

Students want stackable credentials that prove they have job-ready skills. Students are no longer willing to commit four years and six figures to a degree that might not lead to a career of their choice. They want to see career progress year by year, with credentials they can use immediately while building toward a full degree, and ultimately, lots of career options.

Employers are willing to pay for skills-based training. Companies now spend billions of dollars a year on workforce development, and they’re increasingly eager to partner with educational institutions that can deliver job-ready skills at scale.

Credit recognition is becoming universal. More than 30 professional certificates now carry formal credit recommendations from accreditation bodies, making them truly stackable toward traditional liberal arts degrees.

For small colleges, this represents a massive opportunity—but only if they act quickly and strategically.

The Acquisition Imperative: Why Organic Growth Isn’t Enough

Most small colleges are approaching the skills gap crisis through partnerships with platforms like Coursera or by adding a few “practical” courses to their existing curriculum. This is “too little, too late” and will prove fatal for many institutions.

Platform partnerships sound appealing because they require minimal upfront investment, but they’re actually a trap. When students enroll in a Google certificate through Coursera, Google gets the brand recognition and career outcome credit, not your college. You become a facilitator in someone else’s ecosystem, competing on price rather than value, with no control over the student experience or employer relationships.

Organic program development is equally problematic. Small colleges lack industry connections, employer relationships, and specialized faculty needed to create truly job-relevant programs. By the time you’ve developed new curricula, hired qualified instructors, and built employer partnerships, market demand will have shifted to new skills.

The optimal strategy is to acquire an established for-profit vocational school.

The Strategic Acquisition Model: Liberal Arts + Vocational Training

The most successful higher education institutions of the next decade will be those that combine the depth and breadth of liberal arts education with the immediate market relevance of vocational training. This isn’t about creating a “vocational track” within your existing college, it’s about acquiring an established vocational college and integrating it strategically.

Here’s why acquisition makes sense:

Immediate Market Access

For-profit vocational schools already have employer relationships, industry partnerships, and job placement networks that take traditional colleges years to develop. When you acquire a vocational school, you’re not just buying facilities and equipment, you’re buying market access.

Proven Revenue Models

Successful vocational schools operate on fundamentally different economics than traditional colleges. They charge premium prices for in-demand programs, maintain high job placement rates, and often have waiting lists for enrollment. This cash flow can stabilize your institution while you integrate programs.

Complementary Student Populations

Vocational schools serve students who might never consider traditional four-year programs—working adults, career changers, first-generation college students. By combining liberal arts and vocational programs, you can serve both populations while creating pathways between them.

Stackable Credential Architecture

The most powerful integration model allows students to earn industry credentials as they progress through liberal arts programs, or to add liberal arts depth to vocational training. A traditional biology major could graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree and a certificate in diagnostic medical sonography. A traditional business major could graduate with a Bachelor’s in Business and technical certifications in cybersecurity. Think of the career opportunities these kinds of students have over traditional students.

Case Study: Successful Liberal Arts + Vocational Integration

Hilbert College, a small, private, non-profit Catholic college, recently acquired Valley College, a for-profit vocational school with campuses in Ohio and West Virginia. This move allows Hilbert to expand its online offerings and potentially increase enrollment by tapping into Valley College’s existing student base. It also allows liberal arts students to graduate with certificates or diplomas as practical nurses, medical clinical assistants, veterinary assistants, or veterinary technicians.  It also enabled Hilbert to offer over a dozen online vocational programs in business, cybersecurity, healthcare, and IT to students in 49 states, greatly expanding Hilbert’s traditional reach, At the same time, the merger allows Valley College’s vocational school students to continue their education by earning an Associates or Bachelor’s degree at Hilbert with programs in over 50 different subject areas.

The Integration Playbook: Making the Marriage Work

Acquiring a vocational school is only the first step. Success requires thoughtful integration that preserves the strengths of both institutions while creating new value. Based on our experience advising higher education M&A transactions, here are the critical success factors:

Preserve Distinct Brand Identities Initially

Don’t rush to rebrand everything under one umbrella. Vocational schools often have strong employer relationships built around their specific brand and reputation. Maintain these relationships while gradually introducing the liberal arts value proposition.

Create Clear Pathways, Not Forced Integration

Students should be able to move between programs naturally, but don’t force artificial combinations. A welding student might benefit from business communication training but probably doesn’t need art history. Focus on complementary skills that enhance career outcomes.

Leverage Cross-Faculty Collaboration

Your liberal arts faculty can provide valuable perspective on critical thinking, communication, and ethics to vocational programs. Meanwhile, vocational instructors can ground theoretical liberal arts concepts in real-world applications.

Maintain Employer Relationships as Strategic Assets

The vocational school’s employer partnerships are among your most valuable acquired assets. Nurture these relationships and gradually introduce the expanded capabilities of your combined institution.

Financial Modeling: The Economics of Educational Transformation

Map of Private Non-profit College Closures

The financial case for strategic acquisition is compelling, but it requires sophisticated modeling that accounts for multiple revenue streams and integration costs. Key considerations include:

Revenue Synergies: Combined institutions can command premium pricing for integrated programs, serve broader student populations, and access new funding sources including employer partnerships and workforce development grants.

Cost Efficiencies: Shared administrative functions, facilities optimization, and combined marketing can reduce per-student costs significantly.

Risk Mitigation: Diversified revenue streams reduce dependence on traditional enrollment, providing stability during demographic transitions.

Growth Capital: Improved cash flow from vocational programs can fund expansion of liberal arts offerings or acquisition of additional specialized schools.

Contact our team for a confidential consultation regarding detailed financial modeling for your institution’s specific situation.

Case Study: A Student’s Portfolio

One of Jackim Woods & Co’s clients, a very successful, fast growing vocational school in Pennsylvania, is a model for colleges of the future.  This for-profit, degree granting institution has 17 programs leading to Associates degrees.  As a student move through their two year program, they complete their general education classes and vocational classes at the same time.  As they learn job-ready skills they earn certifications that go into the student’s portfolio, or “brag book” as the students call it.  Here’s how it works.  A student studying in one of the school’s allied healthcare programs might earn a third-party certificate in CPR and basic life support, then a certificate in phlebotomy, then a certificate in healthcare terminology, and then a certificate in electric healthcare record keeping.  When they graduate, each student’s brag book will contain their diploma, an official transcript, and a dozen or more skill-based certificates. Students have a 90%+ placement rate upon graduation. The school has a board of local employers who help them decide which certificates are important to include in each program. The cost of these tests and certificates are built into the school’s tuition so there is no extra cost to students.  This creates a seamless connection between the school, student, and employer needs.

The Competitive Landscape: First-Mover Advantages

The window for strategic acquisition of quality vocational schools is narrowing rapidly. As more traditional colleges recognize this opportunity, competition for the best targets will intensify, driving up valuations and reducing availability.

Early movers have significant advantages:

• Better acquisition targets are available now at reasonable valuations
• Less competition for quality vocational schools
• More time to execute integration before market pressures intensify
• Stronger market positioning as education evolves

Colleges that wait will find themselves choosing from less attractive targets at higher prices, or worse, competing directly with institutions that have already completed successful integrations.

Beyond Survival: Building Tomorrow’s Educational Powerhouses

This isn’t just about saving colleges, it’s about building the educational institutions that will dominate the next generation of higher education. The colleges that combine liberal arts depth with vocational relevance will enjoy:

• Premium pricing power for differentiated offerings
• Diverse revenue streams, reducing enrollment risk
• Strong employer relationships driving job placement and reputation
• Broader student appeal across demographic and economic segments
• Strategic flexibility to adapt to changing market demands

The question isn’t whether higher education will evolve—it’s whether your institution will lead that evolution or be left behind.

The Path Forward: Strategic Planning for Educational Transformation

College presidents and board members who recognize the urgency of this moment have a clear path forward:

1. Assess your current position honestly, including enrollment trends, financial stability, and competitive positioning
2. Identify strategic acquisition targets that complement your liberal arts mission while providing immediate market relevance
3. Develop integration planning that preserves institutional strengths while creating new value
4. Secure stakeholder buy-in from faculty, alumni, and community partners
5. Execute with experienced guidance to ensure a successful transaction and integration
6. Engage an Expert M&A Advisor to help you objectively assess and address each of these points.

The institutions that act decisively now will not survive—they will thrive for decades to come.

Take Action: Your Institution’s Future Depends on It

The data is clear, the trends are accelerating, and the window to take action is narrowing. Small colleges that fail to adapt to the skills-based education revolution will continue to lose students, struggle with finances, and ultimately face closure.

But those willing to act boldly have an unprecedented opportunity to transform their institutions into thriving, market-relevant educational powerhouses that serve students, employers, and communities better than ever before.

At Jackim Woods & Co., we’ve helped dozens of higher education institutions navigate strategic transformations through carefully planned mergers and acquisitions. As one of the most active and creative financial and M&A advisors to higher education institutions, we understand both the urgency of your situation and the opportunities available to forward-thinking leaders.

Rich Jackim and Jackim Woods & Co.

Rich Jackim is an education industry investment banker, education industry entrepreneur, and former mergers and acquisitions attorney.

For the last 25 years, Rich has been providing boutique investment banking services to middle-market companies in the education sector.

Rich also founded a successful training and certification company called the Exit Planning Institute, which he sold to a private equity group in 2012.  Rich created the Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA) designation and the executive MBA-style CEPA training program.

Rich is also the author of the critically acclaimed book, The $10 Trillion Dollar Opportunity: Designing Successful Exit Strategies for Middle Market Businesses, as well as dozens of articles on mergers and acquisitions, business valuation, and exit planning.

Jackim Woods & Co offers skilled mergers and acquisitions advisory services to privately owned schools, colleges, and EdTech companies in both sell-side and buy-side transactions. Jackim Woods & Co has arranged over 100 successful transactions, ranging from less than one million to more than eighty million dollars in value.

If you own an education-related business and are interested in exploring your options, I would welcome an opportunity to speak with you. Feel free to contact me at 224-513-5142 or rjackim@jackimwoods.com.

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Jackim Woods & Co. Sells Chemical Maintenance, Inc. to Area Distributors

Champaign-based janitorial supplies distributor finds perfect buyer through strategic sale process

Deal Highlights

Jackim Woods & Co. is proud to announce the sale of Chemical Maintenance, Inc. (CMI), a leading janitorial supplies distributor in Champaign, Illinois, to Area Distributors of Quincy, Illinois. This strategic acquisition creates value for both companies while ensuring continuity for CMI’s employees and customers.

The CMI Success Story

CMI represents true entrepreneurial success. Betsy Parks started as a salesperson after college and worked her way up over 20 years to eventually buy the company from the founder’s family. Along with her husband Brad, she grew CMI into a thriving regional distributor, even acquiring a local competitor to strengthen their market position.

When the Parks family decided to retire and spend more time with family, they chose Jackim Woods & Co. to handle the sale.

A Competitive Sale Process

Our comprehensive marketing strategy reached buyers across the janitorial supplies industry, generating exceptional interest:

• 50+ qualified buyers signed NDAs and received detailed information
• Nearly a dozen formal offers demonstrated strong market demand
• Area Distributors emerged as the ideal strategic partner

Why This Deal Works

The acquisition creates compelling benefits for both companies:

For Area Distributors:

• Geographic expansion into an attractive adjacent new market
• Enhanced purchasing power through increased scale
• Access to CMI’s prestigious customers (universities, hospitals, hotels)
• Operational synergies with a well-run organization

For CMI:

• Continuity under experienced ownership
• Cultural alignment with similar values
• Foundation for continued growth

 “We are elated to connect with the Area Distributors group going forward. They will maintain our company culture for our customers, employees, and valued suppliers. We really have a lot of similarities, and it is important to me that the whole team will remain intact in Champaign.”– Betsy Parks, Former Owner, CMI

Industry Expertise Drives Results

This successful transaction highlights Jackim Woods & Co’s deep expertise in the janitorial supplies sector. Our understanding of industry dynamics, buyer networks, and deal structures helps clients achieve optimal outcomes.

The Jan/San sector continues to show resilience and consolidation opportunities as companies expand geographically and seek operational efficiencies through strategic partnerships.

About Jackim Woods & Co.

Jackim Woods & Co. is a specialized investment banking firm focused on middle-market transactions across distribution, manufacturing, and service sectors. We provide comprehensive M&A advisory services, helping business owners achieve their strategic and financial objectives.

Ready to explore your options? Contact Rich Jackim, Managing Partner, to learn more about our Jan/San sector expertise.

About the Author and Jackim Woods & Co.

Rich Jackim is an investment banker, entrepreneur, and former mergers and acquisitions attorney.

For the last 25 years, Rich has been providing boutique investment banking services to middle-market companies in a wide range of industries, including the janitorial supply sector.

Rich also founded a successful training and certification company called the Exit Planning Institute, which he sold to a private equity group in 2012.

Rich is also the author of the critically acclaimed book, The $10 Trillion Dollar Opportunity: Designing Successful Exit Strategies for Middle Market Businesses.

Jackim Woods & Co offers skilled mergers and acquisitions advisory services to privately owned janitorial supply companies in both sell-side and buy-side transactions. Jackim Woods & Co has arranged over 100 successful transactions, ranging from less than one million to more than eighty million dollars in value.

If you own a janitorial supply company and are interested in exploring your options, I would welcome an opportunity to speak with you.

Feel free to contact me at 224-513-5142 or rjackim@jackimwoods.com.

This article is also available on LinkedIn.

Acquisitions in the Education & EdTech Sector in 2025

Acquisitions in the Education and Edtech Sectors in 2025

The following is a summary of mergers and acquisitions transactions expected in the education and edtech sectors in 2025. This article will be updated every two weeks as we work with more clients and learn of other deals in the sector.

The education and edtech sectors experienced a slow start in 2024. Many smaller deals in 2024 fell apart during due diligence. Rising interest rates created anxiety around borrowing costs caused buyers to require a higher return on their investment and depressed valuations.

Investors were still recovering from the bad decisions they made during the COVID pandemic. Most EdTech investors have adopted a more cautious approach after making investments at inflated valuations during the COVID era. Post-COVID, many segments of the education sector have been shaken up due to increased regulation of for-profit Title IV vocational colleges and concerns about the expiration of ESSER funds.

As a result, valuations for small, medium, and large edtech companies have returned to pre-COVID levels, although they are still higher than valuations for traditional businesses. The average small and medium-sized edtech company is valued at 2x to 3x trailing twelve-month annual recurring revenue.

Reported Acquisitions in the Education and Edtech Sectors in 2025

Below is a summary of the mergers and acquisitions transactions in the education and edtech sectors in 2025. This is not an exhaustive list, as many smaller transactions are never announced. This list represents the deals we have learned about through our network or that we are directly involved in, and will be updated every two weeks.

In October,

• Learning Pool, a UK-based digital learning provider, acquired WorkRamp to strengthen its presence and market reach in the United States.
• K12 Coalition, a US-based educator support solutions provider, acquired Keys to Literacy and Professional Development Institute to drive positive student outcomes.
• OWNA, an Australian childcare management platform, acquired Juice Technologies to expand its offerings in the early childcare space.
• Imagine Learning, the largest national provider of digital-first curriculum solutions, acquired EarlyBird, a dyslexia screener and early literacy assessment tool for students in PreK–Grade 3.

In September,

• Ignite Reading, a virtual tutoring program, acquired Esteam to enhance its services and provide better support for students struggling with reading.
• QGenda, a healthcare workforce management company, announced the acquisition of New Innovations, the industry’s largest provider of residency management software. New Innovations’ specialized software is used by hospitals and health systems to manage all aspects of their physician graduate medical education programs. This acquisition expands QGenda’s existing healthcare workforce management solution to include the management of the resident and fellow training lifecycle, including onboarding, evaluations, scheduling and value-based reimbursement strategies.

In August,

• Sycamore, a US-based school management software company, acquired TuitionEP, a payment solution provider for schools, creating a unified academic, communication, and payment system under one solution.
• Bett and GSV Summit, two major education technology events, announced their merger to form the largest and most influential education innovation community worldwide.
• Greenn, a Brazilian payment platform, has acquired Xgrow, an authoring tool for online learning programs, expanding Green’s reach to include 4M students and to become one of the 4 largest digital education platforms in Brazil.
• Year13, an Australian career prep service provider, has acquired Student Edge, a student assistance platform, to support its expansion in the US.

In July,

• TALi Digital Ltd, a digital health company, has announced the acquisition of You Can Do It! Education (YCDI!), a social-emotional learning program, for $1.34 million. The deal includes an upfront payment of $1.14 million and $200,000 in installments over 24 months.
• Learnbeat, a Dutch learning platform provider, has acquired Anywyse for its AI technology to provide more personalized learning opportunities.
• Dukes Education, a UK-based group of schools, acquired Mandoulides Schools to expand into the Greek market.
• Thrive, a UK-based AI-powered online learning platform, acquired Guider, an online mentoring and coaching business.
• Harvest Partners, a US private equity company, acquired The Learning Experience, to expand their operations into Early Childhood Education.
• F-code Inc., a Japanese company, has acquired DEITORA, to focus on digital skills education.
• THI Investments, a UK-based investment firm, has acquired Empowering Learning Group to drive expansion for both its training and staff service in the UK and internationally.
• Hudl, a Lincoln-based company, has acquired both Titan Sports and Balltime to expand its performance tracking and AI analytics capabilities for athletes at all levels, from high schools to professional teams.

In June,

• Unikum has acquired ed tech company StudyBee, which provides modular assessment and insights products integrated with Google Classroom.
• O2B Early Education acquires two North Dakota Bright Futures Learning Centers.
• Wolters Kluwer Health, a global provider of information services and solutions, has acquired IntelliLearn, an Australian company that offers online course solutions for nursing schools.
• Brave Bison, a UK-based digital media company, has acquired MiniMBA, marking its entry into the professional training and EdTech space.

In May,

• Colegium, a Chilean learning platform, acquired preschool edtech, KidsBook, to expand its coverage in the early education segment.
• IXL Learning, a US-based EdTech firm, acquired MyTutor to boost AI lesson planning, adaptive exams, and progress tracking.
• IMG Academy acquires college recruiting service SportsRecruits.

In March,

• Pryor Learning, LLC  acquired PeopleKeys, Inc.  to expand Pryor’s capabilities to offer market-leading DISC assessments and benchmarking analytics as part of its training and learning curriculum.
• Niche, a Canadian K-12 and college discovery platform, has acquired Goodkind, a startup that helps colleges and schools connect with prospective students.

In February,

• Commercial Services Group, a UK-based logistics firm, acquired WF Education Group to build marketshare across the UK and France.
• The Riverside Company, a US investment firm, acquired Wall Street Prep (WSP), a financial training provider, to expand its market share in financial training services.
• Sparkrock, a US-based enterprise software provider, acquired School-Day, a leading payment and activity management platform for schools.
• Elsmere Education, which helps higher education institutions manage online programs, merged with HCRC to offer enrollment and retention solutions.
• Dallas-based Barbri Global, which sells bar exam preparation courses acquires legal learning company Quimbee, a platform that provides study guides for law students
• BetterLesson, a K-12 professional learning provider, acquired Always Be Learning (Abl), to enhance its support for school districts with student scheduling and programming.

In January

• Cengage Group, a US-based curriculum resource provider, acquired Visible Body, a provider of interactive 3D models and software for science education.
• Wayable, a Canadian platform specialized in support for international students, acquired Psymood, a mental health and mentorship provider targeted at international students.
• Brightchamps, a Singaporean curriculum resource provider, acquired Edjust, a provider of digital solutions for personalized education. With this acquisition, GSV Ventures-backed Brightchamps has acquired four companies, including Education10x, a financial literacy education platform for children, Schola, a live learning platform for kids, and Metamorphosis Edu, which trains students in skills linked to entrepreneurship.

Factors Driving Deal Activity

• Continued Consolidation: Expect to see continued consolidation in various segments of the edtech market. This will be driven by companies seeking to expand their product offerings, enter new markets, and achieve economies of scale. For example, companies with complementary product offerings might merge to offer more comprehensive solutions.
• Private Equity Activity: Private equity firms will remain active in the education and edtech space. These firms will be looking for companies with strong growth potential and recurring revenue models. We can also expect to see larger deals involving established players in the market, as well as smaller acquisitions of emerging startups.
• Focus on AI and Emerging Technologies: While AI presents an existential risk for some traditional online education companies, businesses that leverage artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies to improve learning outcomes will be attractive targets. This includes AI-powered tutoring platforms, adaptive learning systems, and platforms that personalize learning content.
• Continued Emphasis on K-12 and Higher Education: Deals involving K-12 learning solutions, higher education platforms, and workforce development solutions will remain prominent.
• Companies focused on the Skills Gap: Companies that provide upskilling and reskilling are becoming central to education pathways. Work-integrated learning models—internships, apprenticeships, and co-op programs—are gaining traction in the United States, aligning student education with industry needs. Vocational training has emerged as a pragmatic choice for many learners. Collaborations between traditional academic institutions and industries are creating seamless pathways from education to employment, addressing local talent shortages. Governments are incentivizing practical training, making it faster and less expensive for students to enter in-demand jobs.

Additional Factors to Consider

• Valuation Pressure: The valuation of edtech companies may continue to face pressure due to the recent market corrections and ongoing economic uncertainties. Buyers are likely to remain cautious and selective, emphasizing profitability and sustainable growth.
• Impact of ESSER Funds: The expiration of ESSER funds will likely continue to influence K-12 spending, which may impact the strategies of EdTech companies in that space.
• Impact of Byju Bankruptcy: The 2024 bankruptcy of Byju and Prosus writing off it’s investment will likely depress valuations in the edtech sector and create a flood of deals on the market.
• Impact of AI on Education.  While AI presents some exciting opportunities for education, it presents an existential threat for others.  See our article on the impact of AI on the Coding Bootcamp Sector.

About the Author and Jackim Woods & Co.

Rich Jackim is an education industry investment banker, education industry entrepreneur, and former mergers and acquisitions attorney.

For the last 25 years, Rich has been providing boutique investment banking services to middle-market companies in the education sector.

Rich also founded a successful training and certification company called the Exit Planning Institute, which he sold to a private equity group in 2012.

Rich is also the author of the critically acclaimed book, The $10 Trillion Dollar Opportunity: Designing Successful Exit Strategies for Middle Market Businesses.

Jackim Woods & Co offers skilled mergers and acquisitions advisory services to privately owned schools, colleges, and EdTech companies in both sell-side and buy-side transactions. Jackim Woods & Co has arranged over 100 successful transactions, ranging from less than one million to more than eighty million dollars in value.

If you own an education-related business and are interested in exploring your options, I would welcome an opportunity to speak with you. Feel free to contact me at 224-513-5142 or rjackim@jackimwoods.com.

The Future of Coding Bootcamps: How AI is Reshaping the Market

For years, coding bootcamps were seen as a golden ticket into the tech industry. They offered a quick path to marketable skills and lucrative careers. More than 100 of these programs popped up across the U.S., touted as a “no-frills alternative” to traditional college degrees.  However, the landscape is shifting dramatically, and the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is forcing a fundamental reassessment of the bootcamp model.

The AI Disruption

The primary challenge facing coding bootcamps stems from the way AI is altering the tech job market itself. Tech companies are increasingly leveraging AI tools to automate tasks that were previously handled by entry-level human coders. This has led to what industry insiders now describe as “GPT monkey” roles – positions where employees primarily handle minor tasks while relying on ChatGPT, Gemini, and other AI tools for complex software writing.

This shift has created multiple headwinds for coding bootcamp providers:

Changing Employer Needs:  Employers are now seeking candidates with specialized tech skills, particularly in AI and machine learning, rather than general entry-level coding abilities.

AI as an Education Provider and Bootcamp Competitor:  Generative AI tools have proven to be excellent tutors and learning tools.  Many individuals consider them more accessible and a much lower-cost pathway to acquire basic coding skills, making the traditional bootcamp model less appealing.

Reduced Entry-Level Demand:  The automation of basic coding tasks using AI has significantly reduced the demand for entry-level tech employees, directly impacting the primary market that bootcamps serve.

2U’s Market Exit: A Telling Case Study

The struggles of 2U, a major player in the bootcamp market, is a perfect illustration of these headwinds. In 2019 2U acquired Trilogy Education for $750 million.  Trilogy is an education company that helps set up and run short-term coding programs at university extension schools.  Over the next several years, 2U partnered with 50 colleges and universities to set up and run their coding bootcamps.  However, in December 2024, 2U made what industry observers called a “bombshell announcement” to exit the bootcamp sector entirely.  It’s important to note that they didn’t sell their bootcamp business – they simply shut it down. This suggests their $750 million investment held little or no market value.

This decision followed a stark 23.3% revenue decline in 2U’s Alternative Credential Segment, driven largely by a 40% drop in bootcamp enrollment. As noted by education sector investment banker, Rich Jackim, the business line “was not worth selling, due to either a lack of buyer interest, or a realization that the market value that could be realized in a sale would not be worth the cost and effort to sell it, or possibly both.”

Instead of selling, 2U will write off their $750 million investment in Trilogy and pivot to offering other kinds of microcredentials through edX.org, which it bought for $800 million in 2021. 

The same situation has occurred to dozens of smaller coding bootcamps across the country, including CodeUp in Austin, TX, that was forced to close in January 2024 because enrollment slowed to the point where it could no longer cover its operating costs.  This highly respected bootcamp was forced to close in the middle of an investment banking process to sell the business.

The Reality on the Ground

The challenges extend beyond just market dynamics.  A telling example comes from an EdSurge podcast hosted by Jeff Young that interviewed, Tim Lum, a returning adult student who attempted the bootcamp route in Honolulu.  His experience highlighted common issues with the model: chaotic classroom environments due to widely varying skill levels among students, and the reality that many students essentially teach themselves using the bootcamp’s curriculum.  Lum ultimately decided that a traditional computer science degree was necessary to achieve his career goals, enrolling in a community college before transferring to a four-year university.

Market Implications and Future Opportunities

For boot camp owners and potential buyers, these developments have profound implications:

Reduced Business Value:  Traditional bootcamp businesses face significant downward pressure on valuations.

Fewer Buyers:  The lower enrollment numbers and existential risk from AI has already resulted in fewer buyers willing to enter the coding bootcamp sector.

Lower Value for Students:  The value proposition for students is weakening as AI tools provide alternative learning paths and entry-level coding positions become more automated.

Evolution Required:  Success in the coding bootcamp sector will require owners to make significant changes in the traditional bootcamp model.

However, opportunities exist for bootcamps that are willing to evolve:

Specialized Training:  Programs focusing on advanced skills in AI, machine learning, cybersecurity, and emerging technologies that are hard to automate could find sustainable market niches.

Microcredential Integration:  Developing shorter, more focused programs that complement rather than replace traditional education.  This could include programs that result in an industry recognized credential or certification, rather than a certificate of completion.

Industry Partnerships:  Closer integration with universities or tech companies could help create more valuable and recognized credentials.

Conclusion

The impact of AI on coding bootcamps marks a significant inflection point in the tech education market. While the traditional bootcamp model faces existential challenges, the underlying need for tech education remains strong – it’s the nature of that education that’s changing.  For investors and bootcamp owners, success will require carefully analyzing these market shifts and adapting to a landscape where specialized skills and AI literacy increasingly dominate the value proposition.

The days of coding bootcamps as a quick alternative to traditional education may be waning, but opportunities remain for those that are willing to evolve their offerings to meet the changing needs of employers and students.

If you are interested in our other articles about coding bootcamps, please read Coding Bootcamp Acquisitions: 2014 to 2022.

About the Author and Jackim Woods & Co.

Rich Jackim is an education industry investment banker, education industry entrepreneur, and former mergers and acquisitions attorney.

For the last 25 years, Rich has been providing boutique investment banking services to middle-market companies in the education sector.

Rich also founded a successful training and certification company called the Exit Planning Institute, which he sold to a private equity group in 2012.

Rich is also the author of the critically acclaimed book, The $10 Trillion Dollar Opportunity: Designing Successful Exit Strategies for Middle Market Businesses.

Jackim Woods & Co offers skilled mergers and acquisitions advisory services to privately owned schools, colleges, and EdTech companies in both sell-side and buy-side transactions.  Jackim Woods & Co has arranged over 100 successful transactions, ranging from less than one million to more than eighty million dollars in value.

If you own an education-related business and are interested in exploring your options, I would welcome an opportunity to speak with you.  Feel free to contact me at 224-513-5142 or rjackim@jackimwoods.com.

Court Reporting Acquisitions in 2025

This article provides a summary of mergers and acquisitions transactions in the court reporting sector in 2025.  We try to update this post every month as we close more deals and learn of other deals that have closed in the sector.

Court Reporting Consolidation

The court reporting and litigation support sector is experiencing a long-term consolidation by several large national players and about a dozen smaller regional companies.

Here is a summary of the factors driving this long-term consolidation.

1. Professional Shortage: There’s a notable shortage of skilled court reporters, partly due to an aging workforce and fewer new entrants in the field. Larger firms, through consolidation, can better manage this talent crunch by pooling resources and offering more attractive career paths.
2. Technological Advancements: The court reporting industry, like many others, is rapidly evolving due to technology. Advancements in digital recording, real-time transcription, and even AI-powered transcription services are reshaping the landscape. Firms are consolidating to better invest in and leverage these technologies. It’s a bit like the tech trends we see in other sectors, where staying ahead of the curve is crucial.
3. Increasing Demand for Legal Services: There’s a growing demand for legal services, partly due to increased regulatory complexities and a more litigious society. This demand extends to court reporting services, which are essential for legal proceedings. Larger firms, through consolidation, can handle a higher volume of work more efficiently.
4. Economies of Scale: By consolidating, court reporting firms can achieve economies of scale. This means they can offer services at a lower cost while improving quality. It’s a classic business move – think of it like big tech firms merging to streamline their operations and cut down on expenses.
5. Market Fragmentation: The court reporting industry is pretty fragmented, with many small players. This fragmentation makes it ripe for consolidation, as larger firms can acquire smaller ones to expand their market share and client base.
6. Diversification of Services: The large national court reporting firms are diversifying their services to include things like legal videography, translation, litigation consulting, eDiscovery, and document management services. By consolidating, firms can offer a broader range of services to their clients, making them a one-stop shop for legal support services.
7. Client Expectations: Clients are increasingly expecting more comprehensive and sophisticated services. Larger, consolidated firms are often better equipped to meet these expectations with their broader range of services and technological capabilities.

Due to these long-term factors, we anticipate this consolidation to continue for the foreseeable future.

The volume of mergers and acquisitions in the court reporting and litigation support sector has seen a marked slowdown in activity in 2023.  Despite the decrease in transaction volume and a significant increase in interest rates, valuations for court reporting firms and litigation support companies have remained strong in 2023.

Transactions in the Court Reporting Sector in 2025

Below is a summary of the mergers and acquisition transactions in the court reporting and litigation support in 2025.  This list is updated every month.

In addition to these publicly announced transactions we estimate there are an another dozen or so transactions involving smaller court reporting firms that were acquired by local competitors or individual investors.  These small transactions are typically not announced in formal press releases.

Other Articles You May Find Helpful

You may also find our other articles related to court reporting helpful.

Court Reporting & Litigation Support Industry is Ripe for Consolidation

What’s My Court Reporting Firm Worth? – Simple Rules of Thumb updated for 2025

Jackim Woods’ Court Reporting Practice Group

About the Author and Jackim Woods & Co.

Rich Jackim is an attorney, investment banker, and entrepreneur. For the last 25 years, Rich has been providing boutique investment banking services to small and middle-market companies in the court reporting and litigation support sector.

In addition to running a successful M&A advisory firm, Rich founded a successful training and certification company called the Exit Planning Institute, which he sold to a private family office in 2012.

Rich is also the author of the critically acclaimed book, The $10 Trillion Dollar Opportunity: Designing Successful Exit Strategies for Middle Market Businesses.  It became an Amazon best-seller in the business consulting category the year it was published.

Jackim Woods & Co offers skilled mergers and acquisitions advisory services to court reporting firms, digital reporting and videography firms, court reporting schools, eDiscovery companies, and legal contract staffing companies in both sell-side and buy-side transactions. Jackim Woods & Co has arranged over 100 successful transactions, ranging in value from less than one million to more than eighty million dollars.

If you own an court reporting firm or litigation support company and are interested in exploring your options, I would welcome an opportunity to speak with you. There is no cost or obligation to you and all discussions are completely confidential.

Feel free to contact me at 224-513-5142 or rjackim@jackimwoods.com.

Acquisitions in the Education and EdTech Sector in 2023

The following is a summary of mergers and acquisitions transactions in the education and edtech sectors in 2023.  We try to update this post every week as we close more deals and learn of other deals that have closed in the sector.

The education and edtech sectors have seen a marked slowdown in activity so far in 2023.  This is following a significant drop in valuations in 2022 as edtech companies no longer benefited from the COVID boost.  That said, valuations for small, medium, and large edtech companies are back to their normal pre-COVID levels and are still significantly higher than valuations for traditional businesses, with the average small and medium-sized edtech companies being valued at approximately 3X trailing twelve-months revenue.

Acquisitions in the education and edtech sectors in 2023 so far

Below is a summary of the mergers and acquisition transactions in the education and edtech sectors so far in 2023.  This list is updated every two weeks.

In December, Curriculum Associates, which sells research-based print and online instructional materials, assessments, and data management tools, acquired SoapBox Labs, an AI speech recognition company.

Carnegie, a New Heritage Capital backed company that provides innovative marketing and enrollment solutions in higher education, acquired Fire Engine Red, a student search service for college and university admissions offices.

ACI Learning acquired Infosec Learning, a company that provides colleges, universities, businesses, and governments with high-speed, intuitive virtual labs and cyber ranges for hands-on, personalized learning and skill assessment. The amount was undisclosed.

ParentSquare, which makes a tool to engage school families and communities, acquired Remind, which runs a secure communication platform for schools.

Allen Career Institute acquired Doubtnut, which makes a learning app that helps students solve math and science problems by taking photos of them, for $10 million. Doubtnut, which had raised over $52 million, was at one point valued at close to $150 million.

In November, Byju announced that it is in talks to sell Epic, its digital reading platform based in the U.S., for $400 million. The potential buyer was not disclosed.

Academic Partnerships has agreed to acquire Wiley’s online program management (OPM) division for approximately $110 million.

DaySmart, a business management company, acquired Sawyer, a business management company focused on the K-12 extracurricular activities market. The amount was not disclosed.

Flywire, a Boston-based software and payments company, acquired StudyLink, a student admissions company in Australia, for an undisclosed amount.

GMB Architecture and Engineering acquired Up and Up, a marketing firm focused on higher ed, for an undisclosed amount.

Enrollify, which offers professional development programs for higher ed marketing professionals, was acquired by Element451, a higher ed student engagement platform.

DaySmart, a business management software company, acquired Sawyer, which provides scheduling and payment solutions for K-12 extracurricular activities. The purchase price was not disclosed.

In October, Instructure,  the edtech company that developed Canvas, a web-based learning management system, and MasteryConnect, an assessment management system, agreed to acquire Parchment, a digital credential company, for $835 million.

Rise In, a Web3 education platform, acquired the Web3 edtech company BlockBeam.

BibliU, a London, UK-based EdTech company, acquired Texas Book Company, a Texas-based industry leader in delivering learning materials to higher education institutions across the U.S.

Accelerate Learning, which produces STEM curriculum, acquired Kide Science, an online library of play and story-based lesson plans and professional development materials for kindergarten through 3rd grade teachers.

Discovery Education, a K-12 digital curriculum and learning services provider backed by Clearlake Capital, acquired DreamBox Learning, a provider of online software for math and reading education, for an undisclosed amount.

The Malvern School, a chain of early childhood education centers, was acquired by Busy Bees, an international early childcare provider that’s expanding in North America.

Ellucian, a leading provider of school management solutions, announced that it will acquire Tribal Group plc, a UK-based services and software provider.

In September, Meazure Learning, a test developer, acquired Examity, a leading online exam proctoring service,  for an undisclosed amount.

A Chicago-based private equity firm, Golden Vision Capital Americas, acquired the educational software company Hawkes Learning for an undisclosed amount. Hawkes created the first adaptive learning educational software with embedded expert systems – the precursor to AI. Their comprehensive suite of innovative course materials encompasses a wide range of subjects, including Mathematics, English, Science, Statistics, Business, and Humanities.

Babbel, a language learning platform, acquired the browser extension Toucan to further expand its learning ecosystem with a browser extension. The amount was not disclosed.

FullBloom, a provider of special education instruction and interventions, acquired a counseling support company, EmpowerU, for an undisclosed amount.

QuantaSing, the Beijing-based learning and development provider, acquired Kelly’s Education, a Hong Kong-based online learning platform. The amount wasn’t disclosed.

In August, Presence, a K-12 teletherapy company, acquired RemoteHQ’s software platform for an undisclosed amount.

Clearlake Capital-backed Discovery Education, a K-12 digital curriculum and learning services provider, agreed to purchase Dreambox Learning, an edtech provider of online software for math and reading education.

SchoolStatus, a K-12 communications company, acquired the school engagement platform ClassTag. The amount wasn’t disclosed.

Noodle, a higher ed enrollment and infrastructure growth company, acquired Meteor, a higher ed-focused upskilling company, for an undisclosed amount.

Ascent, an outcomes-based leading and student success company, acquired the professional development platform Ampersand for an undisclosed amount.

Sallie Mae, the student lender, acquired “key assets” of Scholly, a scholarship search app, for an undisclosed amount.

Student data validation software provider Level Data acquired GlimpseK12, a curriculum measurement tool. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Kahoot, the publicly traded company that developed the popular online quiz tool was acquired by Goldman Sachs’ Private Equity for $1.2 billion in an all-cash deal.

In July, Edtech giant PowerSchool announced that it plans to acquire SchoolMessenger, which offers a range of voice, text, and online tools to help K-12 schools notify parents and students, for approximately $300 million.

Newsela, a K-12 content platform, acquired the instruction and assessment platform Formative for an undisclosed amount.

In June, Axcel Learning, an education acquisition business with financial backing from Alpine Investors, acquired ExitCertified, an online training company focused on upskilling and reskilling individuals, teams, and organizations.

In May, Learning technology company HMH acquired research and educational services organization NWEA. The combined organization will harness the collective power of instruction and research-based insights to support educators in their efforts to drive better outcomes for students.

Learneo, the company that owns CliffNotes, Course Hero, and Quillbot, acquired Barnes & Noble Digital Student Solutions for $20 million.

The learning management system, Go1 acquired the book summarizing subscription service Blinkist.

The University of Idaho announced last week that it intends to acquire the giant for-profit University of Phoenix, with 85,000 students, for $550 million.

Specialized Education Services, a K-12 services provider, acquired Illinois-based special education school NewHope Academy for an undisclosed amount.

Five Arrows, the alternative assets arm of Rothschild & Co., purchased  n2y, a provider of comprehensive, technology-powered solutions for students with unique learning challenges, from The Riverside Company, a private investor.

In April, Raptor Technologies, a K-12 school safety software provider, acquired SchoolPass, a cloud-based solutions provider. The amount was not disclosed.

In March, Renaissance, a preK–12 education technology provider, acquired GL Education, a provider of formative assessments for schools.

Class Technologies Inc., a virtual software provider, acquired CoSo Cloud, a digital learning company, for an undisclosed amount.

Five Arrows, the alternative assets arm of Rothschild & Co, has acquired n2y, a provider of education technology solutions for students with learning challenges.

Docebo, a corporate training and learning platform with AI capabilities, has acquired PeerBoard, a knowledge-sharing platform.

Brightwheel, an all-in-one early education platform, has acquired Experience Early Learning, a research-based early education curriculum provider.

Excolere Equity Partners acquired a controlling interest in EPS School Specialty, a leading developer of curriculum products and services that enhance literacy and math skills for K-12th grade students, particularly those who are two-plus years behind grade level.

Parchment, based in the US, acquired the higher-ed platform Quottly for an undisclosed amount.

Voxy, based in Great Britain, acquired language-learning startup Fluentify for an undisclosed amount.

Carnegie, a leading provider of innovative marketing and enrollment solutions in higher education, has completed two acquisitions. In January of this year, Carnegie acquired the National Small College Enrollment Conference (NSCEC), the leading conference dedicated to serving the needs of small colleges. And secondly, in March, Carnegie acquired CLARUS Corporation, a leading provider of digital marketing solutions for community and technical colleges.

Teaching Channel, a provider of online teacher education, has merged with Learners Edge and Insight ADVANCE. The terms were not disclosed.

Highlights for Children, publisher of a magazine for kids and other media, acquired Tinkergarten, which provides play-based outdoor learning experiences to children six months to 8 years old.

UWorld, which provides learning tools to help students prepare for high-stakes tests, has acquired Wiley’s Efficient Learning test prep portfolio.

Vasil Jaiani, a data management company executive, has acquired two interactive educational websites, Visual Fractions and Worksheet Genius.

XL Learning, a provider of a learning resources platform for K-12 students, acquired Teachers Pay Teachers, a marketplace for teachers to sell lesson materials to each other.

Savvas Learning Company acquired Whooo’s Reading, a gamified reading platform driven by AI, for an undisclosed amount.

In March 2023, Lindenwood Education System, the non-profit parent entity of Lindenwood University, completed its acquisition of Dorsey College, a nationally accredited institution that provides career-focused education in the healthcare, skilled trades, culinary arts, emergency medical services, and beauty and wellness fields.

Atairos, an investment company, agreed to acquire LifeLabs Learning, an edtech platform that provides upskilling programs for managers.

Bain Capital Double Impact, LP acquired Meteor Education, LLC, from Saw Mill Capital Partners. Meteor is the leading provider for the design, delivery, and implementation of modern environments for K-12 schools, operating at the intersection of learning environments and learning experiences.

TPG’s Rise Fund picked up a controlling stake in the Malaysia-based Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation in a deal worth $300 million.

Perdoceo, which owns Colorado Technical University and American InterContinental University System, acquired the software engineering bootcamp Coding Dojo for $53 million.

Tutoring provider Paper acquired the college-readiness tool MajorClarity. The terms of the deal were not announced.

The Riverside Company, a global private investor focused on the smaller end of the middle market, has invested in Eduthings, a software solutions provider for Career and Technical Education (CTE) administrators, teachers, and students to track outcomes and monitor overall program effectiveness. Eduthings is an add-on investment to Riverside’s platform, iCEV, a leading developer of SaaS-based digital curriculum, instructional materials, and industry certifications for the CTE market.

Riverside Company acquired Human Element Solutions, LLC (Element H), a provider of live events, video, creative, and digital content solutions that optimize audience engagement within the pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device/diagnostic industries.

U.S. News & World Report acquired CollegeAdvisor.com, a college admissions platform, from NCSA College Recruiting. The amount was not disclosed.

Study.com, an online learning platform, acquired the tutoring company Enhanced Prep for an undisclosed amount.

Accelerate Learning, a K-12 STEM curriculum provider was acquired by Providence Equity Partners. The terms were not disclosed.

Imagine Learning, one of the largest digital curriculum providers acquired Winsor Learning, whose staff will join Imagine Learning. The acquisition was announced as part of a new push into special education. The amount was not disclosed.

MSB School Services, a K-12 special education software provider, was acquired by Craftsman Capital, a private equity firm, for an undisclosed amount.

Thesis, a cloud-based administration software system for higher ed, was acquired by the private equity firm SilverTree. The amount wasn’t disclosed.

The student engagement platform Learning Explorer acquired Mosaic, the assessment system from ACT. The amount wasn’t disclosed.

ParentSquare, a K-12 engagement platform developer, acquired Gabbart Communications, a school communications tool. The amount wasn’t disclosed.

Online program management company Noodle acquired the South African-based Hubble Studios, a digital content developer, for an undisclosed amount.

Edustaff, a K-12 staffing company, announced it received a non-controlling investment from the private equity firm Public Pension Capital.

We will update this post every two weeks as we close more deals in the education and edtech sectors and learn about other transactions.

Read our previous article for information about mergers and acquisitions deals in the education and edtech sectors that closed in 2002.

About the Author and Jackim Woods & Co.

Rich Jackim is an education industry investment banker, educational industry entrepreneur, and former mergers and acquisitions attorney.

For the last 25 years, Rich has been providing boutique investment banking services to middle-market companies in the education sector.

Rich also founded a successful training and certification company called the Exit Planning Institute, which he sold to a private equity group in 2012.

Rich is also the author of the critically acclaimed book, The $10 Trillion Dollar Opportunity: Designing Successful Exit Strategies for Middle Market Businesses.

Jackim Woods & Co offers skilled mergers and acquisitions advisory services to privately owned schools, colleges, and EdTech companies in both sell-side and buy-side transactions. Jackim Woods & Co has arranged over 100 successful transactions, ranging from less than one million to more than eighty million dollars in value.

If you own an education-related business and are interested in exploring your options, I would welcome an opportunity to speak with you. Feel free to contact me at 224-513-5142 or rjackim@jackimwoods.com.

Coding Bootcamp Acquisitions: 2014 to 2022

This article provides an overview of the publicly announced tech and coding bootcamp acquisitions since 2014.

This article includes the following sections

• Introduction
• Understanding the Bootcamp Market
• Valuing Coding & Cybersecurity Bootcamps
• 2022 Bootcamp Acquisitions
• 2021 Bootcamp Acquisitions
• 2020 Bootcamp Acquisitions
• Summary of Tech Bootcamp Acquisitions
• Notable Coding & Cybersecurity Bootcamp Acquisitions

Introduction

Since the first coding bootcamp acquisition in June 2014, we’ve seen dozens of coding bootcamps get acquired by a wide range of companies, from for-profit education companies (like Capella Education) to co-working companies (like WeWork) and other coding bootcamps (like Thinkful + Bloc)!

With rapid market growth in the bootcamp industry, other types of for-profit education companies are taking note, including traditional vocational schools and 4-year colleges and universities.

Many of these coding bootcamp acquisitions should come as no surprise. Some have been very successful, with the programs going on to significantly increase the number of physical locations and online course offerings.

In addition, as coding bootcamps mature, we are beginning to see bootcamps get acquired by well-known companies for increasingly large sums.  For example, General Assembly was acquired for $413 million, and Trilogy Education for $750 million!

As education industry specialists, Jackim Woods & Co maintains a list of bootcamps acquisitions to track who’s buying whom and how bootcamps and how edtech companies are valued.  As we were compiling the 2022 transactions, it occurred to us that others might be interested in this information as well, so we thought we’d share it with you.  We plan to update this list each year with publicly announced deals involving coding and cybersecurity bootcamps.

Understanding the Coding Bootcamp Market

If you are interested in learning more about the $2.3 billion tech bootcamp sector, please see our article Understanding the Tech Bootcamp Market.

Valuing Tech & Coding Bootcamps

If you’re interested in understanding how bootcamps are valued, please see our article How to Value a Bootcamp – Example and Multiples.

You might also enjoy reading our related article, How to Value an EdTech Company – Multiples & Example.

2022 Coding Bootcamp Acquisitions

2022 was a big year for tech boot camp dealmaking.

• 2022 started off with a bang when Skillsoft, an online course provider, acquired Codecademy in January for $525M.
• Then, in February, Centage Group acquired InfoSec, the leading provider of tech-related certification prep courses, for $190 million.
• The year also ended with two notable transactions when Digital Intelligence Systems acquired Grand Circus for an undisclosed amount, and Simplilearn (a Blackstone Group-backed company) acquired Fullstack Academy.  Fullstack Academy was estimated to be valued at $55 million.

2021 Coding Bootcamp Acquisitions

• ThriveDX (HackerU) acquired Cybint for a reported $50 million.
• Brainstation acquired Wyncode in January 2021
• SNHU acquired Kenzie Academy in March 2021.

2020 Coding Bootcamp Acquisitions 

• K12, the publicly traded online K-12 school and education management provider, paid $165 million in cash to buy Denver-based coding bootcamp Galvanize. For K12, the deal means adding more coding curricula for students in its Destinations Career Academies, which offers high school and career training program hybrids. For Galvanize—which is also Hack Reactor—the deal provides additional funding to grow its corporate learning business, add more physical locations, and increase its services to the military.
• K-12 acquired Tech Elevator for $24M
• Carrick Partners acquired Flatiron School from WeWork for an undisclosed amount.

Summary of Coding Bootcamp Acquisitions

The following is a summary of the publicly announced acquisitions of tech-related bootcamps since 2014.  Keep in mind that only large transactions are typically announced to the public.  We estimate that 75% of the bootcamp transactions each year are small and are not announced to the public.

 Notable Coding Bootcamp Acquisitions

The first reported acquisition of a coding bootcamp was Kaplan Test Prep’s purchase of Dev Bootcamp in June 2014. Although this was the first acquisition in the coding bootcamp industry, it wasn’t Kaplan’s first foray into coding bootcamps.  Kaplan launched its data science bootcamp Metis in early 2014. In 2017 Kaplan integrated Dev Bootcamp into Metis and retired the Dev Bootcamp brand.

Galvanize acquired Zipfian Academy in November 2014. Zipfian Academy was one of the first coding and networking bootcamps in the US. After one year of success, it was acquired by the Denver-based education & coworking powerhouse Galvanize.

ReactorCore acquired MakerSquare in January 2015. After ReactorCore was acquired by MakerSquare, ReactorCore’s first major move was to acquire Chicago-based mobile bootcamp Mobile Makers in September 2015.

The Iron Yard acquired Apollo Education as a “strategic investor” in July 2015. As of October 13, 2017, The Iron Yard is no longer operating.

Strategic Education, Inc. (SEI), the publicly traded holding company for Strayer Education, Inc., acquired New York Code & Design Academy in January 2016. New York Code & Design Academy is no longer operated as a separate brand.

Capella Education acquired Hackbright Academy in April 2016 and shortly afterward acquired DevMountain. Capella Education was later acquired by SEI.

WeWork acquired Flatiron School in October 2017, then in May 2018, WeWork also acquired MissionU.

A few months later, Flatiron School (now a part of WeWork) acquired the UX design bootcamp, Designation, and the cybersecurity bootcamp, SecureSet Academy.

After growing too quickly and facing financial challenges, WeWork sold off most of its assets, including selling Flatiron School to Carrick Partners in June 2020.

In a classic roll-up strategy, Thinkful began acquiring several of its smaller competitors to boost its value.  Starting in 2017, Thinkful acquired Viking Code School and The Odin Project. Then, in April 2018, they acquired Bloc.  When Thinkful reached its desired valuation, it sold to Chegg for $100 million.

Adecco, the large tech staffing company, acquired General Assembly in April 2018 for $413 million. According to Axios, General Assembly had been valued at $440 million. Between 2011-2015, General Assembly raised approximately $120 million in VC funding and earned $100 million in revenue in 2017.  That was the largest bootcamp deal at that time.

However, two years later, 2U acquired Trilogy Education in April 2019 for a record-breaking $750 million!

In early 2022, Centage Group acquired InfoSec, the leading provider of tech-related certification prep courses, for $179 million.

Toward the end of 2022, IT staffing provider Digital Intelligence Systems LLC (Disys) acquired Grand Circus, a virtual coding bootcamp provider that also connects talent to employers.

Outlook for Coding Bootcamp Acquisitions

Many industry analysts are pessimistic about the future of coding bootcamps because of the rapid advances in artificial intelligence and the ability of AI to write relatively sophisticated code.  We do not share that pessimism.  AI will still need talented coders to break projects down into the components that an AI can handle, then direct and instruct the AI about the project parameters, and finally review the AI’s work product and make necessary tweaks and adjustments.  So rather than reducing the demand for programmers, we expect the nature of the course to change and evolve as the technology sector changes and evolves.

About the Author and Jackim Woods & Co.

Rich Jackim is an education industry investment banker, educational industry entrepreneur, and former mergers and acquisitions attorney.

For the last 25 years, Rich has been providing boutique investment banking services to middle-market companies in the education sector.

Rich also founded a successful training and certification company called the Exit Planning Institute which he sold to a private equity group in 2012.

Rich is also the author of the critically acclaimed book, The $10 Trillion Dollar Opportunity: Designing Successful Exit Strategies for Middle Market Businesses.

Jackim Woods & Co offers skilled mergers and acquisitions advisory services to privately owned schools, colleges, and EdTech companies in both sell-side and buy-side transactions. Jackim Woods & Co has arranged over 100 successful transactions, ranging in value from less than one million to more than eighty million dollars.

If you own a tech boot camp or another education-related business and would like to explore your options, I would welcome an opportunity to speak with you. Feel free to contact me at 224-513-5142 or rjackim@jackimwoods.com.

Mergers and Acquisitions in the Education Industry in 2022

This post provides an overview of mergers and acquisitions activity in the education and edtech sectors in 2022

The education sector took some significant twists and turns when the COVID-19 pandemic changed the world. We saw a surge of new users, and new tools, around online learning; but we also saw people and organizations in 2020 and 2021 rethinking how to get the best out of learning environments overall. Now that COVID is largely behind us, 2022 is a year to take stock of how different education related companies evolved and grown.

McGraw Hill acquired Boards & Beyond, a provider of on-demand video libraries and comprehensive online resources for medical students, for an undisclosed amount.

Global University Systems acquired FutureLearn for an undisclosed amount.

GoStudent acquired Studienkreis for an undisclosed amount. This is GoStudent’s 4th acquisition.

The Riverside Company, a private equity group, acquired Applied Educational Systems (AES), a provider of digital career and technical education content for K-12 schools and career centers. AES is an add-on to Riverside’s iCEV platform, a leading developer of SaaS-based digital curriculum, instructional materials and industry certifications.

Universal Technical Institute, a provider of vocational education and  skilled trades programs, acquired healthcare-related higher ed provider, Concorde Career Colleges, Inc., for $50 million.  Concorde Career Colleges has 16 brick and mortar campuses and roughly 11,200 enrolled students in its allied-healthcare programs.

Solutions provider Follett School Solutions acquired the library management system Access-It Software Ltd.

Apogee, a company that offers technology services for higher ed, acquired Cumulus Technology Services, a cloud services consultancy.

The education communications and analytics provider SchoolStatus acquired Smore, a Tel Aviv-based K-12 email newsletter provider that’s widely used in the U.S.

Publisher McGraw Hill acquired the on-demand video library for medical students, Ryan Medical Education, LLC d/b/a Boards and Beyond. The amount was not disclosed.

As mentioned above, London-based FutureLearn was acquired by Global University Systems, a global for-profit higher ed provider based in the Netherlands.

California-based Mattel, one of the biggest toy sellers in the world, acquired Caribu, a digital reading app for families, for an undisclosed amount.

Higher education solutions provider Top Hat acquired STEM learning platform Aktiv Learning.

University Headquarters acquired Discover Early Childhood EDU, an informational guide about degree offerings.

BiC, one of the world’s biggest pen sellers, acquired Advanced Magnetic Interaction, a company that’s focused on “augmented” human-computer interaction.

Learnsoft, a learning management system provider, raised $16.7 million in Series A funding led by Elsewhere Partners.

Discovery Education, a digital edtech platform provider, acquired Pivot Interactive, which has a library of interactive educational science videos. Discovery has private equity backing from Clearlake Capital, and it also acquired DoodleLearning earlier in the month.

EarlyDay, an early childcare education career marketplace, raised $3.25 million.

The children’s publisher Scholastic acquired Learning Ovations, which runs a literary assessment and instructional system.

Edlio, a K-12 communications technology company, acquired SchoolInfo, a mobile app creator for schools.

LumiQ, a Canada-based company that runs a podcast for training chartered professional accountants, raised $5 million for expansion in the U.S.

Roper Technologies, Inc., announced it has reached an agreement to acquire the school administration software provider Frontline Education in a transaction valued at $3.725 billion.

Akili Interactive, which is developing a video game treatment for pediatric ADHD, raised $163 million in a merger with the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Social Capital Suvretta Holdings Corp.

Upkid, an on-demand marketplace for childcare centers and teachers, raised $1.7 million in a pre-seed round.

Outcome Group, Inc., an education financing company, announced it has received new debt facility from Variant Investments, LLC, to expand its education portfolio.

Alchemy, a Web3 developer, acquired ChainShot, a coding bootcamp company, for an undisclosed amount.

Renaissance Learning, an educational software services company, acquired Illuminate Education for an undisclosed amount, according to an email sent to Illuminate customers.

Discovery Education, a digital learning platform, acquired the UK-based math and language arts product provider DoodleLearning for an undisclosed amount.

Vsauce’s Curiosity Box subscription service was acquired by science subscription provider MEL Science. It reportedly closed for $12 million.

The future-of-learning private equity firm Achieve Partners acquired Helios Consulting, a certified Workday advisory partner, to build out its apprenticeship programs.

Cybrary, a cybersecurity and IT career development company, raised $25 million in Series B funding.

Territorium, a skill acquisition edtech company, closed $4.4 million in seed funding.

Creative Galileo, an early learning platform, raised $7.5 million in Series A funding.

Pearl, leading research backed, all-in-one tutor management platform, announced its seed fundraising has passed $4 million.

Arist, a microlearning platform, raised $12 million in Series A funding.

APDS, a public-benefit corporation whose advanced career readiness platform offers career training to incarcerated people, raised $7 million in Series C funding.

Class Technologies announced it has closed its acquisition of Blackboard Collaborate.

Kangarootime, an early childhood education software management company based in Buffalo, NY, closed $26 million in Series B funding.

Coding Dojo, a coding boot camp company, raised $10 million. The Bellevue, Washington-based organization trains software engineers both in-person and online and has experienced more than 100% year-over-year growth over the last two years.

upGrad, a Mumbai-based “unicorn” and test-prep company, doubled its valuation after a $225 million funding round. It’s now valued around $2.25 billion. The nonprofit Educational Testing Service was involved in the funding round.

Elevate K-12, the leading provider of high-quality live-streaming instruction for US K-12 classrooms, raised a Series C $40M round of funding led by venture capital firm General Catalyst.

Velocity Career Labs, a startup that wants to create a blockchain-based platform to manage employee’s credentials, raised $6.5 million in funding.

Multiverse, an apprenticeship facilitator, founded in London and now co-headquartered also in New York — has closed a Series D of $220 million, with its post-money valuation coming in at $1.7 billion. StepStone Group (not to be confused with recruiting platform StepStone) and previous backers Lightspeed Venture Partners and General Catalyst all co-led this round, with Founders Circle Capital and past backers Audacious Ventures, BOND, D1 Capital Partners, GV and Index Ventures also participating.

Cambly, a language learning app, raised $60 million in Series B funding, which is encouraging because language learning apps are a rarity in the VC-backed consumer tech space because they have struggled to make money.

Prenda, a K-8 micro-school company, announced a $20 million Series B funding round. The Series B is being led by Seven Seven Six (776), Alexis Ohanian’s firm, with strong participation from edtech-focused VC Learn Capital, Modern Venture Partners, Peak State Ventures, and the companies original angel investors also participating.

Achieve Partners acquired a majority stake in Boclips, a company that curates educational videos.  Boclips works with publishers and education providers worldwide to enrich learning with the world’s best educational videos and podcasts. Boclips is the trusted destination for rich media that are vetted for quality, sourced from leading creators, and curated specifically for education.  Achieve Partners is engineering the future of learning and earning by investing in cutting edge technologies and novel business models to bolster skill development and secure the future of work for millions of Americans.

IXL Learning, a learning platform company, acquired Curiosity Media, which develops language learning services.

BibliU, a learning platform, announced it has raised $15 million in funding. All existing institutional Series A investors – Stonehage Fleming, Oxford Science Enterprises, Guinness Ventures, and Nesta Impact Investments – participated in the round.

Beable Education, an online literacy recovery platform, acquired Readorium, a leading provider of educational software that teaches reading comprehension skills through science text differentiated to students’ reading levels.

Go1, a hub of on-demand corporate training resources, announced that it raised more than $100 million in a new round of funding, bringing its total market valuation to over $2 billion.  The funding was co-led by AirTree Ventures and Five Sigma, with SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Salesforce Ventures, Blue Cloud Ventures, Larsen Ventures, Scott Shleifer and John Curtius from Tiger Global, TEN13, M12 (Microsoft’s venture fund), Madrona Venture Group, SEEK and Y Combinator also participating.

Riverside Insights, a leading developer of research-based assessments and analytics, today announced its acquisition of Aperture Education, the leading provider of research-based social and emotional learning (SEL) assessments for K-12 schools. With more than 65 years of combined research and SEL experience, Aperture sets the standard for research-based SEL assessment solutions.

Elsevier, a global leader in research publishing and information analytics and part of RELX, has closed the acquisition of Interfolio, a provider of advanced faculty information solutions for higher education, headquartered in Washington DC, US. For over 20 years, Interfolio has supported academics, researchers, higher education institutions and funders. Interfolio’s portfolio includes Faculty Information System (FIS), Dossier, and Researchfish.

India-based startup PW, or PhysicsWallah, has raised $100 million in its Series A funding, the profitable startup said Tuesday. Westbridge and GSV Ventures financed the startup’s first institutional round, which values the two-year-old firm at $1.1 billion (post-money). The company offers low-cost education classes. According to the company’s CEO, “The firm has been profitable since inception with positive cash flow and reserves.”

Guild Education, which provides and manages education-as-a-benefit programs for employers, raised $175 million in a Series F funding round. The round was led by Wellington Management, with participation from Oprah Winfrey, Bon Secours Mercy Health, Citi Impact Fund, and existing investors. The latest funding brings the Denver-based company’s total valuation to $4.4 billion.

About the Author and Jackim Woods & Co.

Rich Jackim is an education industry investment banker, educational industry entrepreneur, and former mergers and acquisitions attorney.

For the last 25 years, Rich has been providing boutique investment banking services to middle-market companies in the education sector.

Rich also founded a successful training and certification company called the Exit Planning Institute which he sold to a private equity group in 2012.

Rich is also the author of the critically acclaimed book, The $10 Trillion Dollar Opportunity: Designing Successful Exit Strategies for Middle Market Businesses.

Jackim Woods & Co offers skilled mergers and acquisitions advisory services to privately owned schools, colleges, and EdTech companies in both sell-side and buy-side transactions. Jackim Woods & Co has arranged over 100 successful transactions, ranging from less than one million to more than eighty million dollars in value.

If you own an education-related business and are interested in exploring your options, I would welcome an opportunity to speak with you. Feel free to contact me at 224-513-5142 or rjackim@jackimwoods.com.

Valuations for Title IV Schools and Training Companies at Record Highs

Valuations for vocational schools and training companies are at record highs now.  As business performance rebounds, buyers are competing for strong performing businesses. That has led to an increase in the number of education-related businesses that were sold in Q3 of 2021.  The number of education deals that closed in the third quarter increased 17% over the previous quarter, and 11% from the same quarter in 2020, according to Jackim Woods & Co, which tracks and analyzes vocational school and training company sale transactions.

2021 Education Industry Seller Confidence Index

Valuations for vocational schools and training companies are at record highs now because seller confidence is up.  As the economy rebounds, owners of vocational schools and training companies are returning to the market, feeling more confident they can sell their schools and training companies for a good price and less willing to wait until the COVID pandemic is over. Seller confidence increased to 57 out of 70; that’s up from 45 in 2020.  This is the highest seller confidence level since the high of 58 in 2018. Today 49% of the respondents believe they can receive a higher sale price for their school or training company today compared to a year ago, and 46% of respondents said the top factor motivating their confidence was an improvement in enrollment and revenue.

The average revenue for vocational schools and training businesses that were sold in the third quarter was $755,000, up 6% from the same time last year. Meanwhile, buyers of education-related businesses, especially Title IV schools, are paying record-high prices for businesses that performed well during the pandemic. The average sale price in the third quarter hit a new high of $1,780,000; that’s 17% higher than the previous year and 40% above pre-pandemic levels.

With current valuations above where they were pre-pandemic, many school owners are thinking now may be the right time to exit.

2021 Education Industry Buyer Confidence Index

Valuations for vocational schools and training companies are also at record highs because buyer confidence is up.  Buyers noted that there is a limited supply of profitable well-run schools and training businesses on the market.  In addition, several buyers noted that because of the shift to online learning, schools will be able to expand their geographic reach while reducing the cost of delivering educational services.  The combination of these two factors signals significant growth opportunities and higher margins for well-run schools and training companies in the future.   As a result, buyer confidence increased to 60, up significantly from 48 in 2020 and only slightly above the buyer confidence level of 59 in 2018.

It is interesting to note that demand for high-performing vocational schools and training businesses is increasing. According to Rich Jackim, Managing Partner of Jackim Woods & Co., “buyer inquiries on our education-related listings are up 39% since the same time last year.  However, many business owners are putting off selling until their schools or training companies have fully recovered, so the supply of profitable, well-run schools is still limited.  This is driving up values and makes it a sellers’ market.”

If you are beginning to think about selling your training business or Title IV vocational school and would like to explore your options, please contact Rich Jackim at rjackim@jackimwoods.com for a FREE, confidential, no-obligation consultation.