[Updated 3/14/14, 8:50 am. See below.] Renaissance Learning is being sold for $1.1 billion to private equity firm Hellman & Friedman in what it says is one of the largest education technology acquisitions ever.
Hellman & Friedman, with offices in San Francisco, New York, and London, will acquire Renaissance Learning from U.K.-based private equity firm Permira, which has U.S. offices in New York and Menlo Park, CA.
The deal comes less than a month after Google Capital put a reported $40 million into Renaissance Learning, the edtech firm based in central Wisconsin. Google’s late-stage tech investment fund said at the time that it valued Renaissance Learning at $1 billion.
Google Capital is expected to keep its stake in Renaissance after the deal closes, likely in the second quarter, according to a press release. Renaissance said it will keep its headquarters in Wisconsin Rapids, WI.
It wasn’t immediately clear what the acquisition means for a lawsuit brought by a minority Renaissance shareholder challenging Permira’s October 2011 acquisition of Renaissance. The Wisconsin Supreme Court has said it will hear the case, the Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune reported. A Renaissance spokeswoman said the company has no comment because the lawsuit is still pending. [Renaissance spokeswoman response added.]
Renaissance, founded in 1986, provides cloud-based software tools for K-12 assessment and learning analytics. Its products are used by more than a third of U.S. schools and schools in 60 countries worldwide.
The company employs 900 people globally, including 600 in central Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune has reported.
