The Education Business Blog
This panel is made up of seasoned veterans of the M&A markets for Education Technology companies. They addressed the K12, Higher Education / Post-secondary, and general M&A climate.
The panelists are:
- Moderator Jeff Fromme – Dorsey and Whitney LLP
- Robin Warner – Managing Director at Van Tulleken Company. K-12 Market
- Vivek Kamath Director Berkery, Noyes & Co. – Higher Education.
- Mark Marchesano with the Jordan, Edmiston Group (JEGI). M&A in a Turbulent Market.
It is sponsored by Empirical Education.
Key insights:
- Look to the UK market – it is an 18 month leading indicator of what is going to happen in the US market.
- Professional Development is now mandatory for all solutions in the UK. Are publishers using this to hold open source at bay or is this a real switch taking place?
- The US market is contracting – there are fewer strategic buyers because they have all merged and the Private Equity guys are sitting things out for a while.
- Buyers don’t want to take any risk right now – only companies with proven business models, strong teams, and organic growth need apply.
- For profit higher ed is growing – the economy is actually helping with this as people look to expand their skill base.
- Expect to see many buyers looking for bargains over the next couple of years. Don’t expect to see much in the way of IPOs.
- In K12 multiples are higher (almost double) for companies that have a strong technology component – but it has to be integrated well – it can’t be a bolt on.
- Multiples are higher for Higher Ed than K12.
For my more free form notes follow below the fold.