OnCourse Learning, a portfolio company of The Riverside Company, has acquired CompuTaught, a provider of online training courses, from Cengage Learning.
CompuTaught is a provider of online training courses and print products for real estate broker, appraisal, mortgage and home inspection licensing. CompuTaught sells through a partner affiliate and school distribution network and via www.careerwebschool.com and www.californialicense.com. The company is based in Atlanta, GA (www.computaught.com).
OnCourse is the holding company established to build a multi-industry professional training provider. It currently consists of three companies: (i) American Home Inspector Training Institute provides pre-licensing training; (ii) Specialized Solutions is a provider of self-paced e-learning courses for IT professionals preparing for certification exams; and (iii) TrainingPro provides mortgage education for brokers and loan officers. The acquisition is the fifth add-on to OnCourse. The other additions to OnCourse were QuickCert.com (2007), American Home Inspectors Training Institute (2007), TrainingPro (2008) and ProSchools (2010). The company has offices in Waukesha, WI and Clearwater FL (www.oncourselearning.com).
“CompuTaught broadens our real estate training and appraisal customer base, capabilities and content,” said OnCourse CEO Patrick Sheahan. “This fits nicely with our company’s market-leading mortgage and home inspection offerings. We anticipate growth in this sector in the coming years as the real estate industry recovers.”
CompuTaught had been a division of Cengage Learning, and Riverside believes the company will be a strong complement to the OnCourse platform. Riverside will leverage its resources and experience in the education and training industry to continue to grow the combined company.
“We have deep experience integrating corporate orphans and completing carve-outs,” said Riverside Managing Partner Loren Schlachet. “We expect this transaction to benefit customers of both CompuTaught and OnCourse while driving growth.”
Working on the transaction with Mr. Schlachet from Riverside were Principal Brian Sauer, Associate Istvan Nadas, Operating Partner David Logan and Finance Director David Pecore.
US Bank provided financing for the transaction and McGladrey provided accounting due diligence.
The Riverside Company is a private equity firm focused on the smaller end of the middle market (“SEMM”). Riverside specializes in investing in SEMM companies (those valued up to $200 million) and partners with management teams to build companies through acquisitions and value-added growth. Since 1988, the firm has invested in 295 transactions with a total enterprise value of more than $6 billion. The firm is headquartered New York with additional offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and London (www.riversidecompany.com).
© 2012 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 9-11-12
