LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Levine Leichtman Capital Partners (“LLCP”), a Los Angeles-based private equity firm, announced today that it has agreed to sell its portfolio company GL Education to Renaissance, a portfolio company of Blackstone Group and Francisco Partners. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded in 1980 and based in London, England, GL Education (known in the UK and Ireland as GL Assessment) was created to help educators ensure children realize their full potential with a “whole-child” approach to formative assessment. Today, it delivers over 9 million assessments annually to schools and school groups in over 100 countries, providing educators with an accurate measure of their students’ abilities and academic progress—as well as identifying barriers to learning they may have. GL Education’s formative assessments are rigorous, academically sound, and in line with best practice in education.
Andrew Schwartz, Partner of LLCP, said, “We are proud to have supported GL Education and its management team over the past several years, and to have participated in building it into the outstanding company it is today. Under our ownership the company executed several value creation initiatives, including international expansion, strong growth of multi-product solutions, enhanced product development and a successful M&A strategy. GL Education is well positioned for continued growth and success as part of Renaissance, and we wish the entire management team and employees all the best in the future.”
Greg Watson, Chief Executive of GL Education, said, “Our management team has benefitted extensively from our partnership with LLCP. Their guidance has been instrumental to our significant growth, and has enabled us to have a meaningful impact on the education of students around the world. We are grateful to LLCP for their extensive support, which has prepared us for an exciting new chapter in our history.”
The sale of GL Education will be LLCP’s sixteenth successful exit since March 2020. GL Education is an investment of Levine Leichtman Capital Partners V, L.P.
Completion of the transaction is expected by the end of the first quarter of 2023.
Baird and Willkie Farr & Gallagher advised LLCP and GL Education on the transaction.
About Levine Leichtman Capital Partners
Levine Leichtman Capital Partners, LLC is a middle-market private equity firm with a 39-year track record of investing across various targeted sectors, including Franchising & Multi-unit, Business Services, Education & Training and Engineered Products & Manufacturing. LLCP utilizes a differentiated Structured Private Equity investment strategy, combining debt and equity capital investments in portfolio companies. LLCP believes that by investing in a combination of debt and equity securities, it offers management teams growth capital in a highly tailored, flexible investment structure that can be a more attractive alternative than traditional private equity.
LLCP’s global team of dedicated investment professionals is led by nine partners who have worked at LLCP for an average of 19 years. Since inception, LLCP has managed approximately $13.2 billion of institutional capital across 15 investment funds and has invested in over 100 portfolio companies. LLCP currently manages $8.6 billion of assets and has offices in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Charlotte, Miami, London, Stockholm, The Hague and Frankfurt.
