The number and value of mergers and acquisitions in the education industry rose sharply over the most recent year, fueled by deals in professional training and by consolidation in some areas of K-12, an analysis has found.
There were 418 mergers and acquisitions in the education industry in 2015, up from 329 in 2014, according to research by the investment bank Berkery Noyes.
The value of the deals over that time period, meanwhile, jumped by 52 percent, to about $18 billion, the research found. The industry’s biggest area of activity in 2015 was in corporate and professional education, where continuing education and workforce development continues to be a major need, the analysis concludes. But mergers and acquisitions were also pushed along by consolidation—including data and assessment, content management systems, and human capital and talent management, the report says.
