e-learning

Falfurrias Acquires The Online Traffic School

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American Safety Council (ASC), a provider of e-learning training services that was acquired by Falfurrias Capital Partners in May 2014, has completed the add-on acquisition of The Online Traffic School.  The acquisition will expand ASC’s footprint within existing markets and provide access to new markets.

The Online Traffic School (OLTS) is a provider of driver safety and driver improvement courses in 28 states.  OLTS was founded in 1996 and is based near Los Angeles in Camarillo, CA (www.onlinetraffic.com).

American Safety Council is a provider of e-learning training services to address transportation and workplace safety, testing, medical continuing education and other regulatory-driven training on behalf of government, institutions of higher learning, business and industry, and individual clients. The company provides its training services to over 750,000 individual users annually.  ASC, led by CEO Jeff Pairan, was founded in 1993 and is based in Orlando (www.americansafetycouncil.com).

ASC was Falfurrias’ platform investment in the e-learning industry and OLTS represents ASC’s first acquisition under Falfurrias ownership.  “As the nation’s original provider of online traffic school, OLTS brings American Safety Council a recognized brand name and a deep network of relationships across the United States,” said Jeff Pairan, chief executive of ASC.

“The acquisition of OLTS is a significant step toward our goal of making ASC a leading provider of e-learning solutions,” said Marc Oken, Co-Founder & Managing Partner of Falfurrias.  “OLTS expands ASC’s geographic reach and provides us with strong URLs for additional market penetration in the online traffic school space.  An increased marketing investment should continue to drive organic growth as we integrate OLTS with ASC.”

Falfurrias Capital Partners makes equity investments of at least $3 million in companies with revenues in excess of $10 million and EBITDAs in excess of $2 million. Industries of interest include financial services; consumer products; health care; building products; diversified manufacturing; business services; education, training, and information services; and infrastructure services.  The firm is based in Charlotte, NC (www.falfurriascapital.com).

© 2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 1-14-15

Skyview Capital Acquires Mimio

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Skyview Capital has acquired the Teach platform of Newell Rubbermaid which includes the Mimio and Headsprout interactive teaching technology brands.

Mimio is a provider of interactive teaching technologies for K–12 classrooms. Mimio’s technologies include the recently launched MimioMobile app and its MimioStudio classroom software. These two programs give teachers the ability to create collaborative learning environments using mobile devices in their classrooms. The MimioSprout and Mimio Reading online instructional reading programs provide schools and homes lessons to teach reading to students in pre–K through eighth grade. The complete MimioClassroom suite of interactive technologies and instructional software are used in more than 600,000 classrooms worldwide. Mimio was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Cambridge, MA (www.mimio.com).

“We are very excited about adding Mimio to the Skyview portfolio. We see tremendous potential in both the education technology and curriculum segments. Mimio has cutting-edge technologies to enhance the learning experience for students around the world,” said Alex Soltani, chairman of Skyview Capital.

Skyview Capital specializes in the acquisition and management of “systems – critical” businesses in the areas of technology, telecommunications, business services, and niche manufacturing. Target companies will typically be divisions, assets, or subsidiaries of Fortune 1000 companies that have revenues of $10 million to $400 million and that are no longer core to their owner’s overall business strategy. Acquisitions can be geographically located in North America, South America, and Europe. Skyview is headquartered in Beverly Hills (www.skyviewcapital.com).

“Skyview has a deep understanding of and experience in the technology industry and sees the value Mimio has to offer. The firm has a proven track record of helping companies increase in value, and we are confident that the Mimio business will benefit from this expertise as we continue to fulfill our mission of offering innovative and relevant instructional technologies,” said Mimio’s General Manager, Manny Perez.

Newell Rubbermaid (NYSE: NWL) is a marketer of consumer and commercial products with 2012 sales of approximately $5.6 billion. Brands include Sharpie, Paper Mate, Rubbermaid Commercial Products, Irwin, Lenox, Parker, Waterman, Rubbermaid, Levolor, Calphalon, Goody, Graco, Aprica and Dymo. The company is headquartered in Atlanta (www.newellrubbermaid.com).

© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 7-16-13