America, the great
At $15 million to $20 million in EBITDA, Compass is smaller than Potentia’s EHG. But where it gets interesting is this – sources told this column both edtechs are on the radar of US tech-focused PE players. Among those expected to take a look are Thoma Bravo – of Infomedia, Nearmap and Iress fame – and KKR-Accel, which sparked a memorable takeover battle at IntelliHR last year.
It’s a similar thematic to what’s unfolding at Melbourne-born HR software business, PageUp, where owner Battery Ventures, is running a sale process targeted at overseas PE bidders instead of the Sydney-Melbourne set. Although the William Blair-run sale process targeted US bidders, Swedish PE investor EQT Partners is understood to be in pole position to buy PageUp.
Education Horizons Group was formed in 2016 as a partnership between longstanding education software companies, Synergetic Management Systems and SEQTA Software. Potentia joined as an investor in 2019, when it was making $30 million in revenue. The business has inked a long list of bolt-on acquisitions over the years, including myEdOnline, SchoolPRO, SPS and OMNILINK, and UK’s Double First.
Potentia, for its part, is also seeking an exit at caravan and hospitality booking software business NewBook, three years after it bought a controlling stake.
