After exiting an early childhood education provider and acquiring another one, Avathon Capital makes a foray into professional learning with the purchase of a healthcare education provider.
Since launching the strategy in 2016, Avathon Capital has prided itself on being a specialist in the education and workforce markets. For the Chicago-based lower mid-market buyout shop, the sector’s prime attractions include its fragmentation, transformative potential and scalability. But it’s also about making a positive impact on society.
“Our commitment to the education and workforce markets is not just about financial returns,” says Shoshana Vernick, managing partner and co-founder of Avathon Capital. “It’s about fostering growth, innovation, and excellence in sectors that are foundational to our economy and society.”
Avathon’s recent acquisition of Magical Beginnings, a network of early childhood education centers in the greater Boston area, is an example of its investment strategy and approach. The deal represented the PE firm’s second foray into the early childhood education space following its sale of portfolio company Big Blue Marble Academy, an early childhood education provider across the Southeast US, to Leeds Equity Partners.
“This experience has strengthened our understanding of the early childhood education market and its unique dynamics,” says Vernick.
This past April, Avathon took a detour from this area to home in on the professional learning niche with its acquisition of Summit Professional Education. Headquartered in Franklin, Tennessee, Summit is a provider of in-person and online continuing and professional education courses for physical therapists and assistants, occupational therapists and assistants, and speech language pathologists.
The deal marked Avathon’s entry into the healthcare professional education space.
“Summit provides the ideal platform for us to build upon, given its scalable business model, extensive course library, and strong market reputation,” explains Vernick. “We see significant opportunities to expand Summit’s offerings and enhance its impact on professional development across various fields.”
Avathon’s goals for Summit are to grow it via add-on acquisitions while improving the company’s technological capabilities and content delivery. “Ultimately, our objective is to create a significantly larger, durable organization that brings market-leading, highly relevant professional education to its clients,” notes Vernick.
Asked how long the firm plans on holding onto this investment, which was funded by a combination of Avathon’s Fund II, which closed on $200 million in 2019, as well as co-investment capital from two LPs, Vernick says they “will evaluate exit opportunities when the company has achieved significant milestones and is well-positioned for continued success.”
To see the Buyouts’ September back-to-school feature on private equity investment in education, click here or view the feature on Avathon in browser, click here.
By Iris Dorbian