Nashua, N.H. — Oct. 14
SSI Investments II Ltd., a parent company of SkillSoft Ltd., a SaaS provider of on-demand e-learning and performance support products for global enterprises, government, education and small to medium-sized businesses, announced its indirect subsidiaries, SkillSoft Corp. and SkillSoft Ireland Ltd., have acquired the Element K business from NIIT Ventures Inc., a subsidiary of NIIT Ltd.
Under the terms of the agreement, pursuant to which the transactions contemplated by the agreement closed effective Friday, the Element K business was acquired for $110 million in cash, subject to adjustments.
The acquisition adds to SkillSoft’s existing offerings in learning content and learning platform technology through the addition of Element K’s complementary offerings in e-learning content, virtual labs, ILT print materials and custom development services. Also, the addition of Element K employees in sales, customer support and product development strengthens SkillSoft’s long-term ability to compete for a greater share of the $48 billion global corporate training market that includes many larger players with more comprehensive product offerings.
Element K offers many of the same financial and operating characteristics as SkillSoft’s business model, including an annual recurring subscription-based licensing model for access to its learning resources library, a direct sales force distribution system complemented by resellers and telesales support, and a Global 2000 client base offering visibility through multi-year contracts.
Under the terms of the acquisition agreement, the buyers paid approximately $110 million in cash. The purchase price is subject to certain post-closing adjustments related to Element K’s closing balance sheet. The cash consideration was financed through available cash balances and additional bank financing of approximately $90 million from the company’s existing senior credit facilities.
Source: SkillSoft
