OC&C advises on sale of TES Global to private equity firm
International educational platform TES Global has been purchased by private equity firm Providence for an undisclosed fee. TES was provided with strategic advice and vendor due diligence support by OC&C Consultants.
TES Global is a digital education company offering teacher training, recruitment, teaching resources, classroom technology, news and events for the worldwide teaching community. Headquartered in Britain, TES is the 5th largest initial teacher training organisation in the UK, supporting a network of 11.6 million teachers and schools throughout the world. The online platform facilitates the sharing of educational resources and training materials, which are downloaded up to a million times a day. TES also provides recruitment and training services in order to allow schools to fill vacancies and qualify and train their teachers.
As of the New Year, TES has been purchased by private equity firm Providence from TPG Capital. Under TPG Capital’s ownership, TES has undergone a digital transformation from a predominantly print-based teacher classified business into a truly global tech-enabled education company. TPG made a series of strategic investments in the business during their ownership, via mergers and acquisitions, and by incorporating teacher training and education technology, as well as new systems and digital capabilities to develop product innovation for schools and teachers globally.
Formed in 1989, Providence is an asset management firm with approximately $30 billion in assets under management across complementary private equity businesses. TES will now look to expand its network further, which is currently growing at 45,000 per week, backed by funds from its new ownership.
Commenting on the deal, Rob Grimshaw, CEO of TES Global said, “Over the next few years and backed by the strength of Providence’s expertise in the education sector, we look forward to taking that vision further. In particular, we aim to build on our already strong credentials as a software services provider, bringing smart digital solutions to schools both in the UK and worldwide. On behalf of everyone at TES, I’d also like to thank TPG for their guidance as owners of the business in recent years and their unwavering support for our successful strategic transformation.”
Dany Rammal, Managing Director at Providence, added, “By partnering with TES Global, we can combine their leading education platform with our expertise developing innovative education businesses around the world to build an even stronger operator in this exciting sector. Providence has over 150,000 students across our existing portfolio of education-focused groups that includes NACE Schools, Galileo Global Education and Study Group International, which make us particularly well-positioned to help Rob and his team propel TES Global’s world-leading community of teachers and school leaders towards its next phase of growth.”
During the sale process, TES Global was provided with strategic advice and vendor due diligence support by OC&C Strategy Consultants. OC&C provided TES Global with strategic advice and vendor due diligence support, leveraging their deep expertise in global education markets. The firm’s M&A team was led by partners Pedro Sanches and Zee Ashraf. Other advisors that were tapped by TES Global were corporate finance firm Jefferies, US law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and UK law firm Travers Smith. Providence was advised by UK-based M&A advisory Arma Partners and American law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges.
Related: M&A team of OC&C advises on sale of Aston Manor and Wagamama.
