In education the exit has usually been a sale to a private equity firm or a strategic buyer, not an IPO. The 2021 IPO and SPAC class mostly traded far below its offer prices. Meanwhile, PE firms such as Vista, Thoma Bravo, KKR, Bain Capital, Veritas and Blackstone built some of the sector's largest and most durable businesses by buying school and university software, consolidating it and holding it through cycles. This section covers EdTech IPOs and SPACs and how they performed, strategic M&A, PE take-privates and roll-ups, distressed exits and bankruptcies, and the mechanics that decide what sellers actually receive.
What the study covers
- 1Overview: how education companies exit
- 2IPOs and SPACs
- 3Strategic M&A
- 4Private equity: take-privates and roll-ups
- 5Bankruptcies and distressed exits
- 6Landmark exits table
- 7Key numbers
- 8Pitfalls
- 9How an expert thinks about it
- 10Related sections
Technical exhibits
Worked examples, checklists and case studies included with this study.
PE Take Private Worked Example
A stylized $4bn take-private of a K-12 software company: sources and uses, five-year projections, returns at three exit multiples and a value-creation bridge, computed in Python
IPO Class of 2021 and Distressed Exits Case Studies
What happened to the 2021 EdTech IPOs and SPACs, and five distressed exits: 2U, Pluralsight, Byju's, Edmodo and Anthology
Exit Readiness Checklist
Preparing an education company for a sale or IPO: buyer mapping, metrics, data-room items specific to education, and deal terms