Instructure Holdings, Inc. a leading learning ecosystem, announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by investment funds managed by KKR, a leading global investment firm, for $23.60 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at an enterprise value of approximately $4.8 billion.
Instructure is a leading global provider of learning management, education-tech effectiveness and credentialing solutions. The Instructure ecosystem of products enhances the lives and outcomes of students, professional learners and educators. The company has impacted approximately 200 million learners across more than 100 countries with a thriving community of over 1,000 partners. Together with its expansive network of educators, learners and partners, the company is committed to broadening its platform and delivering $1B in revenue by 2028.
The Instructure management team, led by CEO Steve Daly, will continue to lead the company in their current roles. KKR will support Instructure as it increases investment in technology and innovation across its leading, global learning platform, including its core Canvas and Parchment products. “Our leadership team laid out an aggressive go-forward strategy in our investor day presentation earlier this year,” said Daly. “We believe Instructure has a significant growth runway as we focus on core markets, unlocking new opportunities and continuing to build the Instructure Learning Ecosystem. It was immediately apparent that KKR is aligned with our long-term vision and growth strategy and we look forward to working closely with them. Together, we’ll expect to build on our position as the education platform that powers learning for a lifetime and turns education into opportunities for all learners globally.”
KKR is making its investment in Instructure through its North America Fund XIII. KKR will support Instructure in creating a broad-based equity ownership program to provide all of the company’s 1,700 employees the opportunity to further participate in the benefits of ownership after the transaction closes. This strategy is based on the belief that team member engagement through ownership is a key driver in building stronger companies. Since 2011, more than 50 KKR portfolio companies have awarded billions of dollars of total equity value to over 100,000 non-senior management employees.
“This transaction is the result of a deliberate and thoughtful process and ultimately a great outcome for all shareholders,” said Holden Spaht, Managing Partner at Thoma Bravo. “We’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with Steve and the Instructure management team to transform the business into a scaled, durable platform and we are excited to watch the next chapter of growth unfold under KKR’s ownership.”
Brian Jaffee, a Partner at Thoma Bravo, added, “Since our initial investment four and a half years ago, it’s been an incredible journey supporting such an important company in the global education technology market. Instructure has evolved into a true platform technology provider and we look forward to watching the KKR team build on the company’s impressive foundation in the years to come.”
The per-share purchase price represents a premium of 16 percent over Instructure’s unaffected share price of $20.27 as of May 17, 2024, the last trading day prior to media reports regarding a potential transaction. KKR, with participation from Dragoneer Investment Group, will acquire all outstanding shares, including those shares owned by Instructure’s existing majority owner, Thoma Bravo, a leading software investment firm, which took the company public in 2021.
Source: PR Newswire
