M&A Deal Summary

Clearlake Capital and Francisco Partners Acquire Discovery Education

On March 9, 2022, private equity firms Clearlake Capital and Francisco Partners acquired education company Discovery Education from Francisco Partners

Acquisition Highlights
  • This is Clearlake Capital’s 1st and Francisco Partners’ 7th transaction in the Education sector.
  • This is Clearlake Capital’s 74th and Francisco Partners’ 110th transaction in the United States.
  • This is Clearlake Capital’s 2nd and Francisco Partners’ 4th transaction in North Carolina.

M&A Deal Summary
Date 2022-03-09
Target Discovery Education
Sector Education
Buyer(s) Clearlake Capital
Francisco Partners
Sellers(s) Francisco Partners
Deal Type Secondary Buyout
Advisor(s) Jefferies (Financial)
Kirkland & Ellis (Legal)

Target

Discovery Education

Charlotte, North Carolina, United States
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) 2

Buyer

Clearlake Capital

Santa Monica, California, United States
Category Private Equity Firm
Founded 2006
PE ASSETS 72.0B USD
Size Mega
Type Sector Agnostic
DESCRIPTION

Clearlake Capital Group is a private equity firm that focuses on corporate divestitures, recapitalizations, buyouts, restructurings, rescue financing, growth capital, turnarounds, and other equity investments. Clearlake seeks to partner with strong management teams by providing long-term capital and operational expertise. Areas of interest include technology, industrials, and consumer. Clearlake Capital Group was formed in 2006 and is based in Santa Monica, California.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 77 of 88
Sector (Education) 1 of 1
Type (Secondary Buyout) 34 of 38
State (North Carolina) 2 of 2
Country (United States) 74 of 83
Year (2022) 2 of 9
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2022-03-08 IPG

Sarasota, Florida, United States

IPG develops, manufactures, and sells a variety of paper and film-based pressure-sensitive and water-activated tapes, stretch and shrink films, protective packaging, woven and non-woven products, and packaging machinery for industrial and retail use. IPG was founded in 1981 and is based in Montreal, Canada.

Buy $2.6B
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2022-03-15 RSA Conference

Bedford, Massachusetts, United States

RSA Conference is the premier series of global events and year-round learning for the cybersecurity community. RSAC is where the security industry converges to discuss current and future concerns and have access to the experts, unbiased content and ideas that help enable individuals and companies advance their cybersecurity posture and build stronger and smarter teams. Both in-person and online, the company brings the cybersecurity industry together and empowers the collective "we" to stand against cyberthreats around the world. It is the ultimate marketplace for the latest technologies and hands-on educational opportunities that help industry professionals discover how to make their companies more secure while showcasing the most enterprising, influential, and thought-provoking thinkers and leaders in cybersecurity today. RSA Conference is based in Bedford, Massachusetts.

Buy -
Buyer

Francisco Partners

San Francisco, California, United States

Investor Investor Investor Investor Investor

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 132 of 149
Sector (Education) 7 of 7
Type (Secondary Buyout) 21 of 24
State (North Carolina) 4 of 4
Country (United States) 110 of 124
Year (2022) 3 of 9
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2022-02-10 AND Health

Columbus, Ohio, United States

AND Health is a provider of chronic disease treatment and reversal using root cause medical care. AND Health is based in Columbus, Ohio.

Buy -
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2022-04-27 WatchGuard

Seattle, Washington, United States

WatchGuard provides network security. The company’s Firebox X family of upgradeable appliances delivers the performance, functionality and security strength to meet the needs of small and medium sized organizations. All WatchGuard products include a LiveSecurity Service subscription for vulnerability alerts, software updates, expert security instruction, as well as individualized and self-help customer care. WatchGuard was founded in 1996 and is based in Seattle, Washington.

Sell -

Seller(S) 1

SELLER

Francisco Partners

San Francisco, California, United States

Investor Investor Investor Investor Investor

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 77 of 81
Sector (Education) 2 of 2
Type (Secondary Buyout) 21 of 22
State (North Carolina) 2 of 2
Country (United States) 63 of 67
Year (2022) 1 of 3
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2022-02-10 AND Health

Columbus, Ohio, United States

AND Health is a provider of chronic disease treatment and reversal using root cause medical care. AND Health is based in Columbus, Ohio.

Buy -
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2022-04-27 WatchGuard

Seattle, Washington, United States

WatchGuard provides network security. The company’s Firebox X family of upgradeable appliances delivers the performance, functionality and security strength to meet the needs of small and medium sized organizations. All WatchGuard products include a LiveSecurity Service subscription for vulnerability alerts, software updates, expert security instruction, as well as individualized and self-help customer care. WatchGuard was founded in 1996 and is based in Seattle, Washington.

Sell -
Mergr

Product

Company

Legal