Surgent Professional Education, a portfolio company of Spire Capital Partners since December 2013, has acquired Pharmaceutical Education Consultants (PharmCon).
PharmCon, through its eCommerce brand FreeCE.com, is a provider of continuing education (CE) services to pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and other healthcare professionals with tens of thousands of annual subscribers.
The company’s digitally delivered courses allow healthcare professionals to satisfy CE requirements and stay current on industry trends, including new drug development, disease management, and legal and ethical topics. PharmCon also provides a catalog of on-demand CE courses and, through its subsidiary, American Health Resources, hosts the Northeast Regional Hematology Oncology Pharmacists Symposium, a popular annual conference. PharmCon was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Myrtle Beach, SC (www.FreeCE.com).
Surgent Professional Education is a provider of educational services within the accounting, auditing and taxation industries. Surgent serves more than 105,000 professionals in 50 states through its web-based learning and on-site educational products. Within the accounting industry, certified public accountants are generally required to complete 40 hours of accredited continuing professional education each year. Surgent, led by CEO Evan Kramer, was founded in 1985 and is headquartered near Philadelphia in Devon, PA (www.surgent.com).
It is expected that Surgent will expand and enhance PharmCon’s webinar products and build a series of exam prep courses for the pharmaceutical market. “PharmCon has a tremendous track record of growth and a stellar reputation among pharmacists and pharmacy technicians,” said Mr. Kramer. “We are beyond excited to continue building on PharmCon’s great foundation by leveraging Surgent’s technology platform and shared services architecture. We see tremendous opportunities to both expand within PharmCon’s current end markets and to enter additional segments of the healthcare industry.”
“We are thrilled to work with Surgent to take PharmCon to its next level of success. It’s clear to me that Surgent is the right partner to accelerate PharmCon’s growth given the talent and infrastructure that we can call on to accelerate the business going forward,” said Josh Chesner, the president of PharmCon.
Spire invests from $15 million to $50 million in companies with revenues of at least $10 million and EBITDAs of at least $3 million. Sectors of interest include technology-enabled business services, media, communications and education. Spire is based in New York (www.spirecapital.com).
© 2019 Private Equity Professional | August 15, 2019