KKR to take edu-tech firm Instructure private for $4.8 billion

Instructure Holdings

25/07/2024 22:51

July 25 (Reuters) - KKR & Co  KKR.N  will take education
software platform Instructure Holdings  INST.N  private for $4.8
billion, the private equity firm said on Thursday.
    The buyout heralds a potential resurgence in private equity
activity, following a period of dormancy due to elevated
interest rates that had hindered debt financing for leveraged
buyouts.
    The deal for Instructure follows a similar transaction in
which Bain Capital agreed to acquire PowerSchool Holdings for
$5.6 billion. 
    KKR's offer price of $23.60 per share represents a premium
of about 16% to the closing price before Reuters reported in May
that Thoma Bravo was exploring a sale of Instructure.
    Thoma Bravo holds nearly 84% of the company's outstanding
shares, according to LSEG data, and had taken the company
private in 2020 for $2 billion. 
    The private equity firm returned Instructure to the stock
market a year later through an initial public offering.
    Reuters reported earlier this month that KKR and Francisco
Partners were among the companies competing to buy the software
firm that offers a learning management system.
    The company's flagship learning management system is called
Canvas and competes with programs such as Google Classroom,
Blackboard Learn and Schoology.
    Earlier this year, Instructure completed the acquisition of
academic credential management platform Parchment for $835
million.
    

 (Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj
Kalluvila)
 ((Akash.Sriram@thomsonreuters.com; On X as @HoodieOnVeshti;
+91-74116-87774;))