Blackstone Invests in Renaissance Learning

Renaissance (Blackstone / Francisco Partners) Acquires GL Education from Levine Leichtman Capital Partners

February 21, 2023

Education

Levine Leichtman Capital Partners has agreed to sell its portfolio company GL Education (GL Assessment), a London-based provider of formative assessments, to Renaissance — a portfolio company owned by Blackstone Group and Francisco Partners. The deal, intended to further position Renaissance as a global education leader and expand its assessment capabilities, is expected to close by the end of Q1 2023; financial terms were not disclosed.

Providence Equity Partners Majority Investment in Accelerate Learning

February 21, 2023

Education

Providence Equity Partners has made a majority investment in Accelerate Learning, a Houston-based provider of K-12 STEM curriculum and digital learning platforms. Existing investors including funds managed by Carlyle, Quad Partners, Rice University and Owl Ventures will retain minority stakes; financial terms were not disclosed. The investment is intended to help Accelerate Learning scale growth, deepen customer relationships and pursue organic and inorganic expansion opportunities.

Renaissance Acquires KeyPhonics

March 28, 2022

Education

Renaissance has acquired KeyPhonics, the first commercially available web-based phonics assessment, to expand its early literacy assessment and instruction capabilities. The deal integrates a diagnostic phonics screening tool into Renaissance's pre-K–12 portfolio to help teachers link assessment data directly to phonics-based instruction.

Francisco Partners Leads Growth Investment in Civitas Learning

February 20, 2019

Education

Francisco Partners has made a growth equity investment in Austin-based Civitas Learning, joined by existing investors Rethink Education, SJF Ventures, and Lumina Foundation. Civitas Learning provides a cloud-based Student Success Suite that uses data science and machine learning to help more than 350 colleges and universities improve student outcomes; the capital will be used to accelerate product development and expand adoption across higher education.

Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners Acquire Ellucian

September 15, 2021

Software

Private equity funds managed by Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners have completed the acquisition of Ellucian from TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners. The long-term investment will support Ellucian's cloud and SaaS expansion, accelerate digital transformation capabilities for higher education customers, and fund international growth.

Blackstone Growth Makes Strategic Growth Investment in Dynamo Software; Francisco Partners Reinvests

September 9, 2021

Cloud & SaaS

Dynamo Software has entered into a definitive agreement to receive a strategic growth investment from funds managed by Blackstone Growth, with existing investor Francisco Partners reinvesting. The capital will be used to accelerate Dynamo's product development and global expansion across the alternative investment management market; the transaction is expected to close in Q4 with terms undisclosed.