Court Reporting Acquisitions in 2023
This article provides a summary of mergers and acquisitions transactions in the court reporting sector in 2023. We try to update this post every month as we close more deals and learn of other deals that have closed in the sector.
Court Reporting Consolidation
The court reporting and litigation support sector is experiencing a long-term consolidation by several large national players and about a dozen smaller regional companies.
Here is a summary of the factors driving this long-term consolidation.
- Professional Shortage: There’s a notable shortage of skilled court reporters, partly due to an aging workforce and fewer new entrants in the field. Larger firms, through consolidation, can better manage this talent crunch by pooling resources and offering more attractive career paths.
- Technological Advancements: The court reporting industry, like many others, is rapidly evolving due to technology. Advancements in digital recording, real-time transcription, and even AI-powered transcription services are reshaping the landscape. Firms are consolidating to better invest in and leverage these technologies. It’s a bit like the tech trends we see in other sectors, where staying ahead of the curve is crucial.
- Increasing Demand for Legal Services: There’s a growing demand for legal services, partly due to increased regulatory complexities and a more litigious society. This demand extends to court reporting services, which are essential for legal proceedings. Larger firms, through consolidation, can handle a higher volume of work more efficiently.
- Economies of Scale: By consolidating, court reporting firms can achieve economies of scale. This means they can offer services at a lower cost while improving quality. It’s a classic business move – think of it like big tech firms merging to streamline their operations and cut down on expenses.
- Market Fragmentation: The court reporting industry is pretty fragmented, with many small players. This fragmentation makes it ripe for consolidation, as larger firms can acquire smaller ones to expand their market share and client base.
- Diversification of Services: The large national court reporting firms are diversifying their services to include things like legal videography, translation, litigation consulting, eDiscovery, and document management services. By consolidating, firms can offer a broader range of services to their clients, making them a one-stop shop for legal support services.
- Client Expectations: Clients are increasingly expecting more comprehensive and sophisticated services. Larger, consolidated firms are often better equipped to meet these expectations with their broader range of services and technological capabilities.
Due to these long-term factors, we anticipate this consolidation to continue for the foreseeable future.
The volume of mergers and acquisitions in the court reporting and litigation support sector has seen a marked slowdown in activity in 2023. Despite the decrease in transaction volume and a significant increase in interest rates, valuations for court reporting firms and litigation support companies have remained strong in 2023.
Transactions in the Court Reporting Sector in 2023
Below is a summary of the mergers and acquisition transactions in the court reporting and litigation support in 2023. This list is updated every month.
Buyer | Seller | Date | Subsector |
Magna Legal Services | Zanaras Reporting & Video | 12/7/2023 | Court Reporting |
Cristina and Jerry Coash Jr. | Coash Court Reporting & Video | 11/30/2023 | Court Reporting |
Veritext Legal Solutions | Metropolitan Court Reporters | 10/14/2023 | Court Reporting |
Veritext Legal Solutions | Wasileski Court Reporting | 9/28/2023 | Court Reporting |
Veritext Legal Solutions | Atchison & Denman | 9/14/2023 | Court Reporting |
Veritext Legal Solutions | M&M Court Reporting | 6/25/2023 | Court Reporting |
U.S. Legal Support Inc. | Summit Court Reporting | 6/23/2023 | Court Reporting |
Lexitas | Imagine Reporting | 6/20/2023 | Court Reporting |
Veritext Legal Solutions | Litigation Services | 4/28/2023 | Court Reporting |
Veritext Legal Solutions | Augusta Scribes | 4/6/2023 | Court Reporting |
Lexitas | Elite-Brentwood Reporting | 3/21/2023 | Court Reporting |
Puget Sound Reporting | actively seeking acquisitions | 3/16/2023 | Court Reporting |
Lexitas | Enright Court Reporting | 3/7/2023 | Court Reporting |
Veritext Legal Solutions | Garcia McCall Court Reporters | 3/3/2023 | Court Reporting |
Veritext Legal Solutions | Bridges Court Reporting | 2/1/2023 | Court Reporting |
Lexitas | Kusar Court Reporters | 1/31/2023 | Court Reporting |
In addition to these publicly announced transactions we estimate there are an another dozen or so transactions involving smaller court reporting firms that were acquired by local competitors or individual investors. These small transactions are typically not announced in formal press releases.
Other Articles You May Find Helpful
You may also find our other articles related to court reporting helpful.
Court Reporting & Litigation Support Industry is Ripe for Consolidation
What’s My Court Reporting Firm Worth? – Simple Rules of Thumb updated for 2023
Jackim Woods’ Court Reporting Practice Group
About the Author and Jackim Woods & Co.
Rich Jackim is an attorney, investment banker, and entrepreneur. For the last 25 years, Rich has been providing boutique investment banking services to small and middle-market companies in the court reporting and litigation support sector.
In addition to running a successful M&A advisory firm, Rich founded a successful training and certification company called the Exit Planning Institute, which he sold to a private family office in 2012.
Rich is also the author of the critically acclaimed book, The $10 Trillion Dollar Opportunity: Designing Successful Exit Strategies for Middle Market Businesses. It became an Amazon best-seller in the business consulting category the year it was published.
Jackim Woods & Co offers skilled mergers and acquisitions advisory services to court reporting firms, digital reporting and videography firms, court reporting schools, eDiscovery companies, and legal contract staffing companies in both sell-side and buy-side transactions. Jackim Woods & Co has arranged over 100 successful transactions, ranging in value from less than one million to more than eighty million dollars.
If you own an court reporting firm or litigation support company and are interested in exploring your options, I would welcome an opportunity to speak with you. There is no cost or obligation to you and all discussions are completely confidential.
Feel free to contact me at 224-513-5142 or rjackim@jackimwoods.com.
Read MoreMid 2023 Recreational Vehicle Industry M&A Report
This article is a summary of recent M&A activity in the recreational vehicle industry in 2023.
The recreational vehicle industry is coming off two of the most profitable and demanding years in a row. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and economic shutdown greatly benefited all aspects of the industry, from manufacturers, dealers, repairs, and campgrounds. The companies that were ready capitalized greatly and added a new generation of customers to its base. But now what? 2023 is proving to be a very different year for all involved.
Recent Mergers and Acquisitions
Despite the recent slowdown in the RV industry as a whole, mergers, and acquisitions are still going strong. Marcus Lemonis, Chairman and CEO of Camping World, recently said, “Our goal is to achieve 50% growth in our store count over the next five years”. Camping World is currently the largest retailer of RVs and has 197 store locations. Many other conglomerates are looking to expand via acquisitions and new store openings.
By Craig Hudman, Managing Director at Jackim Woods & Co.
Jackim Woods & Co. is a leading mergers and acquisition advisor focused on providing senior-level attention and flawless execution to clients in the recreational vehicle industry.
Craig is an experienced mergers & acquisitions professional, a former owner of a leading RV dealer, and a dealership management and operations expert. He brings over 30 years of RV-related experience.
To arrange a free, confidential initial consultation, please contact Craig Hudman at (208)521-1521 or chudman@jackimwoods.com.
Read MoreAcquisitions in the Education and EdTech Sector in 2023
The following is a summary of mergers and acquisitions transactions in the education and edtech sectors in 2023. We try to update this post every week as we close more deals and learn of other deals that have closed in the sector.
The education and edtech sectors have seen a marked slowdown in activity so far in 2023. This is following a significant drop in valuations in 2022 as edtech companies no longer benefited from the COVID boost. That said, valuations for small, medium, and large edtech companies are back to their normal pre-COVID levels and are still significantly higher than valuations for traditional businesses, with the average small and medium-sized edtech companies being valued at approximately 3X trailing twelve-months revenue.
Acquisitions in the education and edtech sectors in 2023 so far
Below is a summary of the mergers and acquisition transactions in the education and edtech sectors so far in 2023. This list is updated every two weeks.
In December, Curriculum Associates, which sells research-based print and online instructional materials, assessments, and data management tools, acquired SoapBox Labs, an AI speech recognition company.
Carnegie, a New Heritage Capital backed company that provides innovative marketing and enrollment solutions in higher education, acquired Fire Engine Red, a student search service for college and university admissions offices.
ACI Learning acquired Infosec Learning, a company that provides colleges, universities, businesses, and governments with high-speed, intuitive virtual labs and cyber ranges for hands-on, personalized learning and skill assessment. The amount was undisclosed.
ParentSquare, which makes a tool to engage school families and communities, acquired Remind, which runs a secure communication platform for schools.
Allen Career Institute acquired Doubtnut, which makes a learning app that helps students solve math and science problems by taking photos of them, for $10 million. Doubtnut, which had raised over $52 million, was at one point valued at close to $150 million.
In November, Byju announced that it is in talks to sell Epic, its digital reading platform based in the U.S., for $400 million. The potential buyer was not disclosed.
Academic Partnerships has agreed to acquire Wiley’s online program management (OPM) division for approximately $110 million.
DaySmart, a business management company, acquired Sawyer, a business management company focused on the K-12 extracurricular activities market. The amount was not disclosed.
Flywire, a Boston-based software and payments company, acquired StudyLink, a student admissions company in Australia, for an undisclosed amount.
GMB Architecture and Engineering acquired Up and Up, a marketing firm focused on higher ed, for an undisclosed amount.
Enrollify, which offers professional development programs for higher ed marketing professionals, was acquired by Element451, a higher ed student engagement platform.
DaySmart, a business management software company, acquired Sawyer, which provides scheduling and payment solutions for K-12 extracurricular activities. The purchase price was not disclosed.
In October, Instructure, the edtech company that developed Canvas, a web-based learning management system, and MasteryConnect, an assessment management system, agreed to acquire Parchment, a digital credential company, for $835 million.
Rise In, a Web3 education platform, acquired the Web3 edtech company BlockBeam.
BibliU, a London, UK-based EdTech company, acquired Texas Book Company, a Texas-based industry leader in delivering learning materials to higher education institutions across the U.S.
Accelerate Learning, which produces STEM curriculum, acquired Kide Science, an online library of play and story-based lesson plans and professional development materials for kindergarten through 3rd grade teachers.
Discovery Education, a K-12 digital curriculum and learning services provider backed by Clearlake Capital, acquired DreamBox Learning, a provider of online software for math and reading education, for an undisclosed amount.
The Malvern School, a chain of early childhood education centers, was acquired by Busy Bees, an international early childcare provider that’s expanding in North America.
Ellucian, a leading provider of school management solutions, announced that it will acquire Tribal Group plc, a UK-based services and software provider.
In September, Meazure Learning, a test developer, acquired Examity, a leading online exam proctoring service, for an undisclosed amount.
A Chicago-based private equity firm, Golden Vision Capital Americas, acquired the educational software company Hawkes Learning for an undisclosed amount. Hawkes created the first adaptive learning educational software with embedded expert systems – the precursor to AI. Their comprehensive suite of innovative course materials encompasses a wide range of subjects, including Mathematics, English, Science, Statistics, Business, and Humanities.
Babbel, a language learning platform, acquired the browser extension Toucan to further expand its learning ecosystem with a browser extension. The amount was not disclosed.
FullBloom, a provider of special education instruction and interventions, acquired a counseling support company, EmpowerU, for an undisclosed amount.
QuantaSing, the Beijing-based learning and development provider, acquired Kelly’s Education, a Hong Kong-based online learning platform. The amount wasn’t disclosed.
In August, Presence, a K-12 teletherapy company, acquired RemoteHQ’s software platform for an undisclosed amount.
Clearlake Capital-backed Discovery Education, a K-12 digital curriculum and learning services provider, agreed to purchase Dreambox Learning, an edtech provider of online software for math and reading education.
SchoolStatus, a K-12 communications company, acquired the school engagement platform ClassTag. The amount wasn’t disclosed.
Noodle, a higher ed enrollment and infrastructure growth company, acquired Meteor, a higher ed-focused upskilling company, for an undisclosed amount.
Ascent, an outcomes-based leading and student success company, acquired the professional development platform Ampersand for an undisclosed amount.
Sallie Mae, the student lender, acquired “key assets” of Scholly, a scholarship search app, for an undisclosed amount.
Student data validation software provider Level Data acquired GlimpseK12, a curriculum measurement tool. The purchase price was not disclosed.
Kahoot, the publicly traded company that developed the popular online quiz tool was acquired by Goldman Sachs’ Private Equity for $1.2 billion in an all-cash deal.
In July, Edtech giant PowerSchool announced that it plans to acquire SchoolMessenger, which offers a range of voice, text, and online tools to help K-12 schools notify parents and students, for approximately $300 million.
Newsela, a K-12 content platform, acquired the instruction and assessment platform Formative for an undisclosed amount.
In June, Axcel Learning, an education acquisition business with financial backing from Alpine Investors, acquired ExitCertified, an online training company focused on upskilling and reskilling individuals, teams, and organizations.
In May, Learning technology company HMH acquired research and educational services organization NWEA. The combined organization will harness the collective power of instruction and research-based insights to support educators in their efforts to drive better outcomes for students.
Learneo, the company that owns CliffNotes, Course Hero, and Quillbot, acquired Barnes & Noble Digital Student Solutions for $20 million.
The learning management system, Go1 acquired the book summarizing subscription service Blinkist.
The University of Idaho announced last week that it intends to acquire the giant for-profit University of Phoenix, with 85,000 students, for $550 million.
Specialized Education Services, a K-12 services provider, acquired Illinois-based special education school NewHope Academy for an undisclosed amount.
Five Arrows, the alternative assets arm of Rothschild & Co., purchased n2y, a provider of comprehensive, technology-powered solutions for students with unique learning challenges, from The Riverside Company, a private investor.
In April, Raptor Technologies, a K-12 school safety software provider, acquired SchoolPass, a cloud-based solutions provider. The amount was not disclosed.
In March, Renaissance, a preK–12 education technology provider, acquired GL Education, a provider of formative assessments for schools.
Class Technologies Inc., a virtual software provider, acquired CoSo Cloud, a digital learning company, for an undisclosed amount.
Five Arrows, the alternative assets arm of Rothschild & Co, has acquired n2y, a provider of education technology solutions for students with learning challenges.
Docebo, a corporate training and learning platform with AI capabilities, has acquired PeerBoard, a knowledge-sharing platform.
Brightwheel, an all-in-one early education platform, has acquired Experience Early Learning, a research-based early education curriculum provider.
Excolere Equity Partners acquired a controlling interest in EPS School Specialty, a leading developer of curriculum products and services that enhance literacy and math skills for K-12th grade students, particularly those who are two-plus years behind grade level.
Parchment, based in the US, acquired the higher-ed platform Quottly for an undisclosed amount.
Voxy, based in Great Britain, acquired language-learning startup Fluentify for an undisclosed amount.
Carnegie, a leading provider of innovative marketing and enrollment solutions in higher education, has completed two acquisitions. In January of this year, Carnegie acquired the National Small College Enrollment Conference (NSCEC), the leading conference dedicated to serving the needs of small colleges. And secondly, in March, Carnegie acquired CLARUS Corporation, a leading provider of digital marketing solutions for community and technical colleges.
Teaching Channel, a provider of online teacher education, has merged with Learners Edge and Insight ADVANCE. The terms were not disclosed.
Highlights for Children, publisher of a magazine for kids and other media, acquired Tinkergarten, which provides play-based outdoor learning experiences to children six months to 8 years old.
UWorld, which provides learning tools to help students prepare for high-stakes tests, has acquired Wiley’s Efficient Learning test prep portfolio.
Vasil Jaiani, a data management company executive, has acquired two interactive educational websites, Visual Fractions and Worksheet Genius.
XL Learning, a provider of a learning resources platform for K-12 students, acquired Teachers Pay Teachers, a marketplace for teachers to sell lesson materials to each other.
Savvas Learning Company acquired Whooo’s Reading, a gamified reading platform driven by AI, for an undisclosed amount.
Atairos, an investment company, agreed to acquire LifeLabs Learning, an edtech platform that provides upskilling programs for managers.
Bain Capital Double Impact, LP acquired Meteor Education, LLC, from Saw Mill Capital Partners. Meteor is the leading provider for the design, delivery, and implementation of modern environments for K-12 schools, operating at the intersection of learning environments and learning experiences.
TPG’s Rise Fund picked up a controlling stake in the Malaysia-based Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation in a deal worth $300 million.
Perdoceo, which owns Colorado Technical University and American InterContinental University System, acquired the software engineering bootcamp Coding Dojo for $53 million.
Tutoring provider Paper acquired the college-readiness tool MajorClarity. The terms of the deal were not announced.
The Riverside Company, a global private investor focused on the smaller end of the middle market, has invested in Eduthings, a software solutions provider for Career and Technical Education (CTE) administrators, teachers, and students to track outcomes and monitor overall program effectiveness. Eduthings is an add-on investment to Riverside’s platform, iCEV, a leading developer of SaaS-based digital curriculum, instructional materials, and industry certifications for the CTE market.
Riverside Company acquired Human Element Solutions, LLC (Element H), a provider of live events, video, creative, and digital content solutions that optimize audience engagement within the pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device/diagnostic industries.
U.S. News & World Report acquired CollegeAdvisor.com, a college admissions platform, from NCSA College Recruiting. The amount was not disclosed.
Study.com, an online learning platform, acquired the tutoring company Enhanced Prep for an undisclosed amount.
Accelerate Learning, a K-12 STEM curriculum provider was acquired by Providence Equity Partners. The terms were not disclosed.
Imagine Learning, one of the largest digital curriculum providers acquired Winsor Learning, whose staff will join Imagine Learning. The acquisition was announced as part of a new push into special education. The amount was not disclosed.
MSB School Services, a K-12 special education software provider, was acquired by Craftsman Capital, a private equity firm, for an undisclosed amount.
Thesis, a cloud-based administration software system for higher ed, was acquired by the private equity firm SilverTree. The amount wasn’t disclosed.
The student engagement platform Learning Explorer acquired Mosaic, the assessment system from ACT. The amount wasn’t disclosed.
ParentSquare, a K-12 engagement platform developer, acquired Gabbart Communications, a school communications tool. The amount wasn’t disclosed.
Online program management company Noodle acquired the South African-based Hubble Studios, a digital content developer, for an undisclosed amount.
Edustaff, a K-12 staffing company, announced it received a non-controlling investment from the private equity firm Public Pension Capital.
We will update this post every two weeks as we close more deals in the education and edtech sectors and learn about other transactions.
Read our previous article for information about mergers and acquisitions deals in the education and edtech sectors that closed in 2002.
About the Author and Jackim Woods & Co.
Rich Jackim is an education industry investment banker, educational industry entrepreneur, and former mergers and acquisitions attorney.
For the last 25 years, Rich has been providing boutique investment banking services to middle-market companies in the education sector.
Rich also founded a successful training and certification company called the Exit Planning Institute, which he sold to a private equity group in 2012.
Rich is also the author of the critically acclaimed book, The $10 Trillion Dollar Opportunity: Designing Successful Exit Strategies for Middle Market Businesses.
Jackim Woods & Co offers skilled mergers and acquisitions advisory services to privately owned schools, colleges, and EdTech companies in both sell-side and buy-side transactions. Jackim Woods & Co has arranged over 100 successful transactions, ranging from less than one million to more than eighty million dollars in value.
If you own an education-related business and are interested in exploring your options, I would welcome an opportunity to speak with you. Feel free to contact me at 224-513-5142 or rjackim@jackimwoods.com.
Read MoreKahoot Goes Private for $1.7 Billion in All Cash Deal
The popular education game developer Kahoot has gone private in a $1.7 billion all-cash deal.
At that valuation, the buyers of Kahoot, an Oslo-based developer that built and runs the popular quiz tool, paid a significant premium. But it’s still below the company’s COVID-era valuation, which valued the company at closer to $6 billion.
The Kahoot buyer group was led by Goldman Sachs’ private equity arm, with General Atlantic, KIRKBI Invest A/S (of LEGO Group), and Glitrafjord named as major investors.
Kahoot was listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange and went public in 2021. That same year, Kahoot acquired Clever, a platform developer that streamlined the edtech experience for schools, and according to their websites, says it serves half of all K-12 students in the U.S.
The premium price paid for Kahoot is an exception to the rule these days, as edtech companies find themselves in a more conversation valuation climate than the valuations paid during the pandemic. The visions many investors had of unlimited edtech growth, which fueled crazy valuations like Byju’s, have fallen apart, says Rich Jackim of Jackim Woods & Company, and valuations have returned to the more normal valuations seen for other SaaS companies.
In Jackim’s estimation, the new owners are likely to draw Kahoot and Clever farther from their roots, which raises questions about what the future direction of the company will be and whether Kahoot will continue to offer the Clever platform to schools for free for much longer.
If you own an education, training or edtech company and would like to explore your options, please contact Rich Jackim at rjackim@jackimwoods.com or 224-513-5142.
Read MoreMid 2023 Recreational Vehicle Industry Report
The recreational vehicle industry is coming off two of the most profitable and demanding years in a row. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and economic shutdown greatly benefited all aspects of the industry, from manufacturers, dealers, repairs, and campgrounds. The companies that were ready capitalized greatly and added a new generation of customers to their base. But now what? 2023 is proving to be a very different year for all involved.
The RV Industry as a whole is seeing the effects of record sales in the past two years. Sales have plummeted in part to the rising costs of RV and interest rate hikes. RV shipments in 2023 are at their lowest point since 2007-2008. Many dealers are still struggling to move new 2022 model year units while manufacturers slowly roll out 2024 model years. Projections put shipments in 2023 around 300,000 and 2024 in the mid 300’s. This added on top of interest rates that have nearly doubled over the last twelve months, and a poor national economic outlook has put most would-be buyers on hold. Interest rates are not expected to decrease until the latter part of 2024.
The RV Industry as a whole had an overall economic impact of $140 billion in 2022. More Americans are discovering the joys of camping. The average use of an RV is around 20 days per year. Manufacturers, Dealers and Campgrounds are staying busy with the huge influx of new buyers coming to the RV market as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. These new customers are keeping both campgrounds and dealerships busy, not to mention the added strain on manufacturers and suppliers.
Thor, Forest River, and Winnebago account for 90% of all RV’s manufactured in the U.S. and Canada. These three “big” manufacturers continue to dominate and account for all brands commonly sold on most dealers’ lots. Towables account for close to 90% of the market, and the other 10% is motorized. Thor leads the way in towables and motorized market share, and Forest River is number two. The largest segment growth comes in the motorized class B with growth of around 8% per year. Winnebago currently claims 39% of this market. Texas continues to be the number one destination for wholesale RV shipments at nearly 10%, followed by California (6.4%), Florida (6.1%), Ohio (3.6%), and Michigan (3.5%). The median age for RV buyers has dropped to 33 years old. The amount financed on an RV has risen to around $45,000.
By Craig Hudman, Managing Director at Jackim Woods & Co., a leading mergers and acquisition advisor focused on providing senior-level attention and flawless execution to clients in the recreational vehicle industry.
Craig is an experienced mergers & acquisitions professional, a former owner of a leading RV dealer, and a dealership management and operations expert. He brings over 30 years of RV-related experience.
To arrange a free, confidential initial consultation, please contact Craig Hudman at (208)521-1521 or chudman@jackimwoods.com.
Read MoreYou Don’t Know What You Don’t Know: Selling an RV Dealer
If you’ve ever heard the saying, “You don’t know, what you don’t know,” and never understood it, I was there also. I sold my family business about 18 months ago to a much larger company. At the time, I thought that knew a lot about the RV industry, after all, I was a third-generation owner. I figured if my grandfather and father had been successful for over 50 years, what they’d taught me ought to be enough. That idea, that concept embedded into the depths of my thought, couldn’t have been more wrong. I soon would learn “what I didn’t know.”
The first six months were really a blur. Our projections and goals were constantly changing based on more growth than I ever could’ve imagined. All of the new tools and information I now had at my disposal were amazing. Any question I had could be answered, and hunches could now be backed up with quantifiable data. I’ll admit it was a bit of an overload at first, but now it has become normal.
To people that have been brought into the light after having been in the dark, the world seems amazing, and this is how I felt. Along with this amazing feeling also comes a bit of shame. I now can say, “I didn’t know what I now know.” Shame comes from knowing that in 50 years of business, we never truly grew. Not when I came home from college with all my “fancy” degrees and learning. Not from an evolving economy. We only focused on small, consistent growth that was very risk-averse and preservation-minded. Debt was always considered bad. Sure, we made a great living, but now I know what could’ve been.
So to all those out there who “don’t know what you don’t know,” I suggest you learn before it cost you as much as it cost me. Sure, it cost me in the valuation of my company, but most of all, it cost me years of personal and professional growth. Now I am always searching for ways to improve, so if I am ever in the same position, my “don’t know” won’t last very long.
If you own an RV dealer, supplier, or OEM and would like to explore your growth options or exit options, I would welcome an opportunity to speak with you. Feel free to contact me for a confidential, no-cost, no-obligation consultation at chudman@jackimwoods.com or 208-521-1521. I look forward to speaking with you.
Read MoreInnovative Edu Lead Gen Program for Career Colleges
Increase Enrollment with Qualified Student Leads and Scholarships
Rich Jackim and Jackim Woods & Co are proud to partner with Educapital Foundation to create opportunities for underserved students to pursue career-focused higher education opportunities. We do this by providing them with innovative scholarships and introducing them to schools and colleges that can help them break the poverty cycle by training them for high-paying, in-demand careers.
Overview of the Educapital Lead Generation Program
Who is Educapital Foundation?
Educapital Foundation is an innovative 501(c)3 nonprofit foundation(www.edu-capital.org). Educapital is the only national foundation to focus its efforts on trade school education for the country’s most underserved, impoverished students.
What Does Educapital Do?
Educapital Foundation partners with leading social media influencers nationwide to create scholarships for students and campaigns to promote career-focused higher education. In 2022, Educapital awarded 3,700 scholarships and grants to students who completed or were enrolled in Educapital’s partner school programs.
Why Does Educapital Do It?
Educapital’s mission is to eliminate poverty through education and access to capital.
How Does Educapital Generate Leads?
Educapital runs marketing campaigns with leading social media influencers that reach over 20 million social media followers each month.
Where Does Educapital Source its Leads?
Educapital sources its leads using innovative social media campaigns on Tiktok and Instagram, targeting low-income and underserved students ages 18-24.
Who Does Educapital Serve?
• Students seeking to improve their lives by:
– Increasing their awareness of and access to good-paying careers
– Providing them with scholarships to attend a career college
– Introducing them to colleges that fit their needs
• For-profit career and technical schools that:
– Provide on-ground, hybrid, and online programs
– Offer certificate or degree programs
– Provide students with access to other types of financial aid, including Title IV financial aid programs and state & county grant programs
The Innovative Educapital Lead Generation Program
Tailored Approach: Educapital tailors its influencer marketing campaigns to fit the enrollment needs of its partner schools, including the program, target demographics, and geographical area.
Huge Reach: Some of Educapital’s previous social media campaigns have generated over 20,000 verified leads.
Low Pricing: Educapital provides qualified leads to our partner schools at $40-$50 per lead.
Low Minimum Order: Start with a low minimum order of 500 leads.
Volume Pricing: The pricing per lead goes down as volume goes up.
Performance-based Scholarships: Educapital tracks each student’s performance and provides performance-based scholarships to students provided the student meets agreed-upon academic standards. Learn more about performance-based scholarships here.
Educapital’s Unique Win-Win-Win Business Model
Educapital’s innovative business model is a unique example of creating a win-win-win scenario for everyone involved, from students to influencers and donors to career schools and colleges.
Students benefit from having a non-profit entity that is focused on helping them break the poverty cycle through a combination of scholarships, grants, mentoring, and introductions to careers colleges that fit their needs. All of the proceeds from selling leads are re-invested in Educapital’s student scholarship fund. Each student, on average, receives over $1,000 in scholarships from Educapital.
Influencers benefit by promoting a non-profit public-service message about the value and benefits of career education and being able to write off their typical fee as a donation to Educapital’s 501C3 foundation.
Corporate donors and employers benefit by promoting career education and funding scholarships for students in fields that directly benefit these donors.
Career colleges and schools benefit by getting a steady stream of qualified leads for their programs. As an added benefit, when a lead generated by Educapital becomes a student and enrolls, they receive an Educapital-funded performance-based scholarship that helps the school or college’s 90/10 ratio.
Click Here to Read about Educapital Foundation in the News
To learn more and become a Partner School or Donor, contact
Rich Jackim
Jackim Woods & Co. rjackim@jackimwoods.com
Cell: 847-682-4997
Selecting the Right Expert Witness Can Win Your Case
Proven and Experienced Expert Witness Services
If you are representing a plaintiff or defendant in litigation, selecting the right expert witness can make or break your case. Knowing how to pick the right expert is key to obtaining a successful outcome.
The right expert witness in the mergers and acquisitions industry goes beyond just ensuring that the witness has the right education and training to calculate financial and economic damages. It is equally important that the expert understands the operations, finances, and practices in the business brokerage and M&A industry and is familiar with the issues that affect privately held businesses and professional practices.
Expert Witness Areas of Expertise
- Business valuations of privately owned businesses
- Franchisor and franchisee disputes
- Calculation of economic damages
- Purchase price allocation
- Valuation of personal goodwill in professional practices
- Earnout disputes
- Lender or creditor disputes
- Shareholder disputes
- Divorce settlements
- Bankruptcy
- Valuation of intangible assets like fitness center membership lists, brand value, or goodwill
Selecting the Right Expert to Help You Win Your Case
Expert witnesses are a dime a dozen, but when you need an expert with a very specific set of skills or experience, like expertise in business valuation and mergers and acquisitions issues related to buying and selling privately-held companies, clients and their law firms, select Jackim Woods & Company.
When selecting an expert witness in the mergers and acquisitions space, it is critical that you and your attorney know exactly what skills and experience your expert witness needs to have. Richard Jackim, the founder and managing partner at Jackim Woods & Co, is an experienced investment banker and a retired mergers & acquisitions attorney. He has been involved in over 100 mergers and acquisitions in over 20 different industries. He has performed over 290 business valuations and served as an expert witness in dozens of litigation matters.
Rich Jackim has the credentials and experience you need to win your case. Rich earned his law degree with honors from Cornell University Law School and his Master of Business Administration with honors from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. Rich also founded the Exit Planning Institute, a training and certification company that is the thought leader in the field of exit planning. He developed and taught the Certified Exit Planning Advisor program offered through the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago. He is also the author of the critically acclaimed book, The $10 Trillion Opportunity: Designing Successful Exit Strategies for Middle Market Business Owners.
A copy of Rich Jackim’s expert witness curriculum vitae is available here.
Communication Skills Win Cases
In addition to the right credentials, an effective expert witness must be able to communicate in a clear, concise, and articulate manner. Your expert witness must come across as knowledgeable, accessible, and self-assured without being pedantic. The ability to build rapport with the judge and jury is essential. When both sides present strong, technically sound positions, a judge or jury often favors the side whose expert was able to communicate the issues more clearly or convincingly. Richard Jackim is a personable and knowledgeable expert and has a unique ability to present complicated issues in a clear and concise manner that connects with judges and juries.
We offer clients and their attorney’s a free, one-hour initial assessment of their case so they can determine if our approach and communication style meets their needs.
Credibility Wins Cases
An expert must also be polished and unflappable in the face of tough, sometimes seemingly stupid questions from opposing counsel. An expert witness must be able to answer questions about his background and experience to withstand a Daubert challenge. It’s critical for the attorney to have an upfront conversation with the expert to ensure they are of good character; have worked for both plaintiffs and defendants; learn about any positions they may have taken that are adverse to the position in this case, whether through testimony or through publications of an article; and whether they have ever failed a Daubert challenge.
Richard Jackim’s top-tier academic credentials, plus his 30 years of business experience, including practicing mergers & acquisitions law and leadership positions at several national investment banking firms, provide him with unique qualifications as an expert witness. His opinions are based on market realities and actual transactions, not just financial theories. As a result, he can speak to industry best practices and what is “market.”
Practical Industry Experience Wins Cases
It’s also important that you select an expert witness who has industry-specific experience as well as experience testifying in depositions, hearings, and at trial. This experience enables them to have a clear understanding of the business being evaluated, gives them an advantage by being able to understand how litigation and depositions work, allows them to anticipate the kinds of questions opposing counsel might ask, and helps you and your attorney understand the key weaknesses in the opposing expert’s presentation.
Rich Jackim has worked with hundreds of clients in over 20 different industries, including career and vocational education, sports & fitness, manufacturing, professional services, trucking and transportation, and the wholesale/distribution sectors.
He has consulted on over thirty-two different litigation matters, testified in six depositions, and provided expert witness testimony in two trials. His experience as a valuation and economic damages expert witness has helped the parties settle over 80% of cases without going to trial. On the two matters that did go to trial, Jackim’s clients won both matters on the merits, with the judge stating in one case that Jackim’s testimony was clear and convincing and could not be refuted by the opposing expert witness.
Rich has worked with clients of all sizes, from individuals like business owners, doctors, and other professionals negotiating a divorce settlement to calculating economic damages for large organizations, like Rogers Sports & Media Group in Toronto and Applebee’s restaurants.
The Right Expert Witness Wins Cases
We encourage clients and their attorneys to contact us as early as possible. Early collaboration provides us with an opportunity to help you develop your litigation strategy. Ideally, we would be engaged early enough to assist in formulating requests for discovery. As a well-versed damages expert, Rich Jackim knows what information is needed to ensure a thorough and supportable analysis. In addition, engaging us early in the process allows time to help you think through the issues and help develop the most cost-effective strategy to present your case.
In the event we find we cannot support your position based on the information provided, knowing this early on can give you time to either revise your strategy or find a different expert. Remember, unlike attorneys who are advocates for their clients, the best expert witnesses should be a neutral third party whose professional opinion is objective and unbiased. Jackim has built an impeccable reputation by providing clients and their attorneys with honest, objective advice based on the available facts and his years of investment banking, law practice, and business ownership experience.
A copy of Rich Jackim’s expert witness curriculum vitae is available here.
For a free initial consultation, please contact Richard Jackim at rjackim@jackimwoods.com or at 224-513-5142.
Read MoreWhat’s My Court Reporting Firm Worth? – Simple Rules of Thumb
This post from 2018 has been updated with 2023 market data.
Thinking of selling your court reporting or litigation support firm? The first question most business owners ask is, “What’s my business worth?”
Most businesses, including court reporting agencies and litigation support firms, are valued based on a multiple of the cash flow they generate. This cash flow is often referred to as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization or “EBITDA.”
The following multiples are used by business brokers, buyers, and lenders to get a ballpark idea of the value of a business.
EBITDA SELLING PRICE MULTIPLES
$0 – $50,000 1.0 times EBITDA
$50,000 – $150,000 1.0-1.5 times EBITDA
$150,000 – $250,000 1.5-3.0 times EBITDA
$250,000 – $500,000 2.5-3.0 times EBITDA
$500,000 – $1,000,000 3.0-5.0 times EBITDA
Over $1,000,000 4.0-6.0 times EBITDA
The multiple can vary widely depending on a number of factors, including the size of your business, historic trends in revenues and profits, the ranges of services you offer, trends in client and reporter retention, client concentration, or other factors that might impact the future cash flow of your business.
How to Calculate the EBITDA of Your Court Reporting Firm
To calculate your court reporting company’s EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, start with the profit shown on your P&L statement or tax return, then add back interest, depreciation, and amortization. EBITDA is the starting point for any business valuation so it’s a good number to track on an annual basis.
In addition, it is important to calculate your EBITDA correctly. EBITDA should reflect a market-based salary for the firm’s owner. However, if you own your own firm you can pay yourself an above market salary and offer yourself perks that a buyer will not incur. These “excess” expenses can often be added back to your EBITDA resulting in a higher valuation. As a result, it is important to work with an objective third party to evaluate what adjustments can be made to your EBITDA to truly reflect the operating cash flow of your business.
Don’t Leave Money on the Table When Selling Your Court Reporting Firm
While rules of thumb and valuation multiples are easy to use, they are notoriously inaccurate because they don’t consider the unique value drivers or value detractors of your business. Using valuation rules of thumb will give you a rough idea of what your business is worth, but to get a more accurate idea, the valuation should account for things like your agency’s past trends in performance, type of clients, recurring revenue, use of technology, management depth, projected growth, and other things.
To get an accurate valuation talk with a business broker or M&A advisor who specializes in representing professional services companies, including court reporting and litigation support firms. They will work with you to make the appropriate adjustments to your EBITDA, evaluate your business and client base, and value your firm properly so you don’t leave any money on the table when you sell.
At Jackim Woods & Co. we use the discounted cash flow and comparable transactions valuation methods to provide clients with an accurate, market based, idea of what their court reporting and litigation support firms are worth.
Interested in Learning More?
While understanding the value of your court reporting firm is a good place to start, there are many other issues and factors that can affect the overall outcome of a sale. To learn more, download our free 17-page white paper “How to Sell Your Court Reporting Firm for Top Dollar“.
Get a Free, No Obligation Market Assessment of your Court Reporting Firm
If you’d like to begin exploring your options, contact Rich Jackim, Managing Partner at Jackim Woods & Co. (847-682-4997 or rjackim@jackimwoods.com) to get a FREE Valuation and Market Assessment. There is no cost or obligation and all conversations are strictly confidential.
Read MoreCoding Bootcamp Acquisitions: 2014 to 2022
This article provides an overview of the publicly announced tech and coding bootcamp acquisitions since 2014.
This article includes the following sections
- Introduction
- Understanding the Bootcamp Market
- Valuing Coding & Cybersecurity Bootcamps
- 2022 Bootcamp Acquisitions
- 2021 Bootcamp Acquisitions
- 2020 Bootcamp Acquisitions
- Summary of Tech Bootcamp Acquisitions
- Notable Coding & Cybersecurity Bootcamp Acquisitions
Introduction
Since the first coding bootcamp acquisition in June 2014, we’ve seen dozens of coding bootcamps get acquired by a wide range of companies, from for-profit education companies (like Capella Education) to co-working companies (like WeWork) and other coding bootcamps (like Thinkful + Bloc)!
With rapid market growth in the bootcamp industry, other types of for-profit education companies are taking note, including traditional vocational schools and 4-year colleges and universities.
Many of these coding bootcamp acquisitions should come as no surprise. Some have been very successful, with the programs going on to significantly increase the number of physical locations and online course offerings.
In addition, as coding bootcamps mature, we are beginning to see bootcamps get acquired by well-known companies for increasingly large sums. For example, General Assembly was acquired for $413 million, and Trilogy Education for $750 million!
As education industry specialists, Jackim Woods & Co maintains a list of bootcamps acquisitions to track who’s buying whom and how bootcamps and how edtech companies are valued. As we were compiling the 2022 transactions, it occurred to us that others might be interested in this information as well, so we thought we’d share it with you. We plan to update this list each year with publicly announced deals involving coding and cybersecurity bootcamps.
Understanding the Coding Bootcamp Market
If you are interested in learning more about the $2.3 billion tech bootcamp sector, please see our article Understanding the Tech Bootcamp Market.
Valuing Tech & Coding Bootcamps
If you’re interested in understanding how bootcamps are valued, please see our article How to Value a Bootcamp – Example and Multiples.
You might also enjoy reading our related article, How to Value an EdTech Company – Multiples & Example.
2022 Coding Bootcamp Acquisitions
2022 was a big year for tech boot camp dealmaking.
- 2022 started off with a bang when Skillsoft, an online course provider, acquired Codecademy in January for $525M.
- Then, in February, Centage Group acquired InfoSec, the leading provider of tech-related certification prep courses, for $190 million.
- The year also ended with two notable transactions when Digital Intelligence Systems acquired Grand Circus for an undisclosed amount, and Simplilearn (a Blackstone Group-backed company) acquired Fullstack Academy. Fullstack Academy was estimated to be valued at $55 million.
2021 Coding Bootcamp Acquisitions
- ThriveDX (HackerU) acquired Cybint for a reported $50 million.
- Brainstation acquired Wyncode in January 2021
- SNHU acquired Kenzie Academy in March 2021.
2020 Coding Bootcamp Acquisitions
- K12, the publicly traded online K-12 school and education management provider, paid $165 million in cash to buy Denver-based coding bootcamp Galvanize. For K12, the deal means adding more coding curricula for students in its Destinations Career Academies, which offers high school and career training program hybrids. For Galvanize—which is also Hack Reactor—the deal provides additional funding to grow its corporate learning business, add more physical locations, and increase its services to the military.
- K-12 acquired Tech Elevator for $24M
- Carrick Partners acquired Flatiron School from WeWork for an undisclosed amount.
Summary of Coding Bootcamp Acquisitions
The following is a summary of the publicly announced acquisitions of tech-related bootcamps since 2014. Keep in mind that only large transactions are typically announced to the public. We estimate that 75% of the bootcamp transactions each year are small and are not announced to the public.
Date | Bootcamp | Buyer | Amount |
Nov-2022 | Fullstack Academy | Simplilearn (Blackstone-backed) | Not Disclosed |
Nov-2022 | Grand Circus | Digital Intelligence Systems | Not Disclosed |
Aug-2022 | ChainShot | Alchemy | Not Disclosed |
Jul-2022 | Holberton School | African Leadership Group (ALG) | Not Disclosed |
Jun-2022 | Emil | Le Wagon | Not Disclosed |
May-2022 | LUCY Security | ThriveDX | Not Disclosed |
Mar-2022 | Kontra | ThriveDX | Not Disclosed |
Feb-2022 | Infosec | Cengage Group | $190.8M |
Oct-2021 | Pentester Academy | INE | Not Disclosed |
Aug-2021 | Cybint | ThriveDX (HackerU) | $50 Million |
Aug-2021 | DigitalCrafts | American InterContinental University System | Not Disclosed |
Mar-2021 | Kenzie Academy | Southern New Hampshire University | Not Disclosed |
Feb-2021 | Wyncode Academy | Brainstation | Not Disclosed |
Nov-2020 | Tech Elevator | K12 (now Stride) | $24 Million |
Jun-2020 | Flatiron School | Carrick Partners | Not Disclosed |
Jan-2020 | Galvanize/Hack Reactor | K12 (now Stride) | $165 Million |
Sep-2019 | Thinkful | Chegg, Inc. | $80M-$100M |
Aug-2019 | SecureSet Academy | Flatiron School | Not Disclosed |
Jun-2019 | SkillsFund | Goal Structured Solutions | Not Disclosed |
Apr-2019 | Trilogy | 2U | $750 Million |
Mar-2019 | Fullstack Academy | Bridgepoint Education (now Zovio) | $50 Million |
Aug-2018 | Designation | Flatiron School | Not Disclosed |
Jul-2018 | Hack Reactor | Galvanize | Not Disclosed, but estimated at over $32 Million |
May-2018 | MissionU | WeWork | Not Disclosed |
Apr-2018 | General Assembly | Adecco | $413 million |
Apr-2018 | Bloc | Thinkful | Not Disclosed |
Dec-2017 | Viking Code School/The Odin Project | Thinkful | Not Disclosed |
Oct-2017 | Flatiron School | WeWork | Not Disclosed |
Aug-2016 | Bitmaker Labs | General Assembly | Not Disclosed |
May-2016 | DevMountain | Capella Education (now SEI) | $20 Million |
Apr-2016 | Hackbright Academy | Capella Education (now SEI) | $18 Million |
Mar-2016 | Starter League | Fullstack Academy | Not Disclosed |
Jan-2016 | New York Code & Design Academy | Strayer Education, Inc | ~$7 Million |
Sep-2015 | Mobile Makers | ReactorCore/Hack Reactor | Not Disclosed |
Jul-2015 | The Iron Yard | Apollo Education | Not Disclosed |
Nov-2015 | Market Motive | Simplilearn (Blackstone-backed) | Not Disclosed |
Apr-2015 | Software Guild | Learning House | Not Disclosed |
Jan-2015 | MakerSquare | ReactorCore/Hack Reactor | Not Disclosed |
Nov-2014 | Zipfian Academy | Galvanize | $10 Million |
Jun-2014 | Dev Bootcamp | Kaplan Test Prep | Not Disclosed |
Notable Coding Bootcamp Acquisitions
The first reported acquisition of a coding bootcamp was Kaplan Test Prep’s purchase of Dev Bootcamp in June 2014. Although this was the first acquisition in the coding bootcamp industry, it wasn’t Kaplan’s first foray into coding bootcamps. Kaplan launched its data science bootcamp Metis in early 2014. In 2017 Kaplan integrated Dev Bootcamp into Metis and retired the Dev Bootcamp brand.
Galvanize acquired Zipfian Academy in November 2014. Zipfian Academy was one of the first coding and networking bootcamps in the US. After one year of success, it was acquired by the Denver-based education & coworking powerhouse Galvanize.
ReactorCore acquired MakerSquare in January 2015. After ReactorCore was acquired by MakerSquare, ReactorCore’s first major move was to acquire Chicago-based mobile bootcamp Mobile Makers in September 2015.
The Iron Yard acquired Apollo Education as a “strategic investor” in July 2015. As of October 13, 2017, The Iron Yard is no longer operating.
Strategic Education, Inc. (SEI), the publicly traded holding company for Strayer Education, Inc., acquired New York Code & Design Academy in January 2016. New York Code & Design Academy is no longer operated as a separate brand.
Capella Education acquired Hackbright Academy in April 2016 and shortly afterward acquired DevMountain. Capella Education was later acquired by SEI.
WeWork acquired Flatiron School in October 2017, then in May 2018, WeWork also acquired MissionU.
A few months later, Flatiron School (now a part of WeWork) acquired the UX design bootcamp, Designation, and the cybersecurity bootcamp, SecureSet Academy.
After growing too quickly and facing financial challenges, WeWork sold off most of its assets, including selling Flatiron School to Carrick Partners in June 2020.
In a classic roll-up strategy, Thinkful began acquiring several of its smaller competitors to boost its value. Starting in 2017, Thinkful acquired Viking Code School and The Odin Project. Then, in April 2018, they acquired Bloc. When Thinkful reached its desired valuation, it sold to Chegg for $100 million.
Adecco, the large tech staffing company, acquired General Assembly in April 2018 for $413 million. According to Axios, General Assembly had been valued at $440 million. Between 2011-2015, General Assembly raised approximately $120 million in VC funding and earned $100 million in revenue in 2017. That was the largest bootcamp deal at that time.
However, two years later, 2U acquired Trilogy Education in April 2019 for a record-breaking $750 million!
In early 2022, Centage Group acquired InfoSec, the leading provider of tech-related certification prep courses, for $179 million.
Toward the end of 2022, IT staffing provider Digital Intelligence Systems LLC (Disys) acquired Grand Circus, a virtual coding bootcamp provider that also connects talent to employers.
Outlook for Coding Bootcamp Acquisitions
Many industry analysts are pessimistic about the future of coding bootcamps because of the rapid advances in artificial intelligence and the ability of AI to write relatively sophisticated code. We do not share that pessimism. AI will still need talented coders to break projects down into the components that an AI can handle, then direct and instruct the AI about the project parameters, and finally review the AI’s work product and make necessary tweaks and adjustments. So rather than reducing the demand for programmers, we expect the nature of the course to change and evolve as the technology sector changes and evolves.
About the Author and Jackim Woods & Co.
Rich Jackim is an education industry investment banker, educational industry entrepreneur, and former mergers and acquisitions attorney.
For the last 25 years, Rich has been providing boutique investment banking services to middle-market companies in the education sector.
Rich also founded a successful training and certification company called the Exit Planning Institute which he sold to a private equity group in 2012.
Rich is also the author of the critically acclaimed book, The $10 Trillion Dollar Opportunity: Designing Successful Exit Strategies for Middle Market Businesses.
Jackim Woods & Co offers skilled mergers and acquisitions advisory services to privately owned schools, colleges, and EdTech companies in both sell-side and buy-side transactions. Jackim Woods & Co has arranged over 100 successful transactions, ranging in value from less than one million to more than eighty million dollars.
If you own a tech boot camp or another education-related business and would like to explore your options, I would welcome an opportunity to speak with you. Feel free to contact me at 224-513-5142 or rjackim@jackimwoods.com.
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