L Squared Capital Partners has sold its portfolio company Teaching Strategies to Summit Partners.
Teaching Strategies is a provider of early childhood (birth through third grade) educational resources, including curriculum and web-based assessment products. Teaching Strategies serves over 20,000 early childhood educators globally. The company is led by CEO Kai-lee Berke, COO Ashley Mathis, and CFO Heather O’Shea and has 170 employees. Teaching Strategies, headquartered in Bethesda, MD, was founded in 1988 by educator Diane Trister Dodge (www.teachingstrategies.com).
Teaching Strategies was acquired by L Squared in October 2014 and during L Squared’s ownership term the EBITDA of the company more than doubled. L Squared was active in forming a new senior management team, introducing new products, and expanding the company’s sales and marketing functions. The firm also completed the add-on acquisition of Tadpoles (www.tadpoles.com), a provider of digital communications tools used by childcare programs to communicate with parents.
L Squared invests from $15 million to $75 million of equity in companies active in tech-enabled services & software, industrial technology & services, and education technology. 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 is headquartered in Newport Beach, CA (www.lsquaredcap.com).
Summit Partners provides private equity and venture capital for growth companies. Founded in 1984, Summit has raised more than $16 billion in capital and has provided equity, recapitalization, and management buyout financing to more than 395 companies across a range of industries. The firm has offices in Boston, Palo Alto, London, and Mumbai (www.summitpartners.com).
© 2018 Private Equity Professional | May 15, 2018
