WHEELIN' AND DEALIN': Not only is venture capital for edtech startups growing--so, too, are mergers and acquisitions for more mature companies. The number of education M&A deals in 2014 increased 9 percent from 2013 (from 298 to 325); the value of those deals, however, jumped 25 percent from $9.12 billion to $11.4 billion. The numbers come from investment banking advisory firm, Berkery Noyes, which has tracked 898 education deals since 2012 and estimates "$28.10 billion worth of transactions over the past three years."
The biggest mover continues to be the professional training market for services and technology (tracked separately in the above graph), which increased by 19 percent from 2013. Leading the way, in terms of deal value, is Charterhouse Capital Partners' $2.3 billion acquisition of SkillSoft. "K-12 Media and Tech" transactions saw a healthy 17 percent jump from 2013 to 2014. (Deals in childcare service deals, however, dropped by over 50 percent.)
"The focus on education access, data analytics, and outcomes-driven technology products and services continues to shape the industry,” says Peter Yoon, Managing Director at Berkery Noyes, in the press release.
