Stone Goff Partners has sold its portfolio company Learners Edge to L Squared Capital Partners. Stone Goff acquired Learners Edge in September 2013.
Learners Edge is a direct-to-teacher provider of online professional development, continuing education and master’s degree programs for K-12 teachers. Teachers use the company’s products to satisfy their teacher certification requirements or to move up their salary scale within their school district through additional education. Learner’s Edge partners with academic institutions such as Augustana College, Aurora University, Colorado State University-Pueblo, Marygrove College, Pacific-Lutheran University and Lourdes University to provide degree-eligible credits to teachers.
According to Stone-Goff, Learners Edge is the largest online direct-to-teacher continuing education provider in the US. The company was founded in 2002 by two middle-school teachers, Joe Cotter and Kyle Pederson and is based near Minneapolis in Lakeville, MN (www.learnersedgeinc.com).
“The Learners Edge team – led by CEO Joe Cotter – developed a clear, mission-driven approach for the development and dissemination of continuing education for teachers. Our successful exit is a testament to the value created by the management team since our investment and demonstrates the company’s strength in helping on-the-ground teachers improve classroom instruction and student learning,” said Hannah Craven, co-founder of Stone-Goff Partners. “As the company’s first outside investor, we are honored to have been able to partner with Joe, Kyle, Julie Yaeger, Jenny Oelkers, Mark Hrubes and the entire Learners Edge team.”
Stone-Goff invests from $6 million to $20 million of equity in lower middle market companies that are active in the consumer, leisure, information, service, media and retail sectors. The firm was founded in 2010 by Hannah Craven and Laurens Goff and has offices in New York and Boston (www.stonegoff.com).
Avante Mezzanine Partners backed Stone Goff’s acquisition of Learners Edge in September 2013 by providing both a senior unitranche financing and an equity co-investment. Through the sale to L Squared, Avante generated a 43% unlevered (Avante is an SBIC) compounded annual rate of return on its investment. Avante also participated in L Squared’s transaction by providing a portion of the debt financing and co-investing in the equity.
“Under the leadership of CEO Joe Cotter and his terrific team, Learners Edge has enjoyed strong organic growth and solidified its position as a leading continuing professional education provider for teachers in this country during the last three years,” said Avante Managing Partner Natasha Fox.
Avante Mezzanine provides unitranche/one-stop debt, mezzanine, and minority equity investments of $5 million to $25 million to sponsored and non-sponsored companies with EBITDAs from $3 million to $15 million. Sectors of interest include aerospace and defense; business services; consumer products; distribution; education; healthcare and life sciences; industrial manufacturing; security products and services; software and IT services; and specialty chemicals and coatings. Avante has offices in Los Angeles and Boston (www.avantemezzanine.com).
L Squared Capital Partners,the buyer of Learners Edge, invests from $15 million to $75 million of equity in technology-enabled services, industrial technology, and education companies. Targeted investments will have revenue of $10 million to $100 million and EBITDA of $3 million to $20 million. The firm was founded in 2014 and has offices in Newport Beach and Chicago (www.lsquaredcap.com).
George K. Baum Capital Advisors (www.gkbcapitaladvisors.com) was the financial advisor to Learners Edge on this transaction.
© 2016 Private Equity Professional • 9-30-16
