M&A Deal Summary

Francisco Partners Acquires Discovery Education

On February 26, 2018, private equity firm Francisco Partners acquired education company Discovery Education from Warner Bros. Discovery

Acquisition Highlights
  • This is Francisco Partners’ 2nd transaction in the Education sector.
  • This is Francisco Partners’ 77th transaction in the United States.
  • This is Francisco Partners’ 2nd transaction in North Carolina.
Investment Fate
  • Discovery Education was sold to a consortium of financial buyers in 2022.

M&A Deal Summary
Date 2018-02-26
Target Discovery Education
Sector Education
Buyer(s) Francisco Partners
Sellers(s) Warner Bros. Discovery
Deal Type Divestiture

Target

Discovery Education

Charlotte, North Carolina, United States
website
Discovery Education with its state-of-the-art digital platform supports learning wherever it takes place. Through its multimedia content, instructional supports, and innovative classroom tools, the company helps educators deliver equitable learning experiences engaging all students and supporting higher academic achievement on a global scale. It serves approximately 4.5 million educators and 45 million students worldwide, and its resources are accessed in nearly 100 countries and territories. Discovery Education is based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

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Buyer(S) 1

Buyer

Francisco Partners

San Francisco, California, United States

Investor Investor Investor Investor Investor

website

Category Private Equity Firm
Founded 1999
PE ASSETS 45.0B USD
Size Mega
Type Sector Focused
DESCRIPTION
Francisco Partners' headquarters in San Francisco, California.
Francisco Partners' headquarters in San Francisco, California.

Francisco Partners is a private equity firm focused exclusively on investments in technology and technology-enabled services. Specific areas of interest include semiconductors, capital equipment, electronics components, systems and manufacturing, IT services and business process outsourcing, communications, security and enterprise applications, and infrastructure software. Prospective investment situations include divisional buyouts, growth equity financings, acquisitions of private companies, sponsored mergers and acquisitions, and take-privates. Francisco Partners looks for opportunities where it can commit a minimum of $100 million per investment. Francisco Partners was formed in 1999 and is based in San Francisco, California.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 93 of 146
Sector (Education) 2 of 7
Type (Divestiture) 17 of 31
State (North Carolina) 2 of 4
Country (United States) 77 of 121
Year (2018) 3 of 9
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2018-01-10 Perforce

Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

Perforce is a provider of enterprise-scale software solutions to technology developers and development operations (“DevOps”) teams requiring productivity, visibility, and scale during all phases of the development lifecycle. Perforce was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Buy -
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2018-03-19 myON

North Mankato, Minnesota, United States

myON LLC is a provider of digital literacy solutions. myON students have access to a personalized literacy ecosystem that offers unlimited reading in a curated library of more than 13,000 digital books dynamically matched to each learner’s reading level and interests.

Sell -

Seller(S) 1

SELLER

Warner Bros. Discovery

Silver Spring, Maryland, United States

website

Category Company
Founded 1985
Sector Media
Employees11,000
Revenue 12.2B USD (2021)
DESCRIPTION
Discovery Communications' corporate headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Discovery Communications' corporate headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Warner Bros. Discovery is a global media company that provides content across multiple distribution platforms, including pay-TV, free-to-air and broadcast television, websites, digital distribution arrangements and content licensing agreements. The Company's portfolio of networks includes television brands such as Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Investigation Discovery, Science and Velocity (known as Turbo outside of the U.S.). Discovery also operates a diversified portfolio of production studios, websites and curriculum-based education products and services. Warner Bros. Discovery was formed in 1985 and is based in Silver Spring, Maryland.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 7 of 8
Sector (Education) 1 of 1
Type (Divestiture) 6 of 7
State (North Carolina) 1 of 1
Country (United States) 4 of 4
Year (2018) 1 of 1
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2017-07-31 Scripps Networks Interactive

Knoxville, Tennessee, United States

Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. is a developer of lifestyle oriented content for many media platforms including television, digital, mobile and publishing. Its portfolio of lifestyle brands include HGTV, DIY Network, Food Network, Cooking Channel, Travel Channel and Great American Country. Scripps was founded in 2008 and is based in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Buy $14.6B
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2021-12-22 WarnerMedia

New York, New York, United States

WarnerMedia is a media and entertainment company. WarnerMedia consists of Turner, Home Box Office, and Warner Bros. Turner consists principally of cable networks and digital media properties. Home Box Office consists principally of premium pay television services domestically and premium pay and basic tier television services internationally. Warner Bros. consists principally of feature film, television, home video and videogame production and distribution. WarnerMedia was formerly known as Time Warner was established in 1985. The Company is headquartered in New York City.

Buy -
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