Verdane and Educations Media Group co-founders acquire Novax and other owners’ shares

Stockholm – Verdane Capital X (“Verdane”) has entered into an agreement with Novax, the investment arm of the Axel Johnson Group, and the other shareholders to acquire all outstanding shares in Educations Media Group (EMG) together with its co-founders. EMG runs the world’s largest group of marketplaces for academic education and professional training. The group, which has achieved profitable growth for 18 consecutive years, is expected to grow its revenues by 30% in 2019 to c. SEK 270m.

Founded in 2001 with a vision to help everyone in the world to find their future education, EMG’s marketplaces today attract over 30 million website visitors per year. EMG’s platform accelerates business growth for educational institutions by providing a one-stop-shop for promoting any type of course or degree programme, using targeted marketing to find the right students. Prospective students benefit from the most complete course content on the market, access to user-based reviews, advice on international mobility and user-friendly search and info tools.

“EMG has a fantastic level of energy and vision. The team has been growing EMG profitably for almost two decades and they are still as excited as when they kicked off. Online education and international mobility mean we are going to see a global transformation both in how knowledge is disseminated and how education is marketed. Education is moving online, and EMG’s marketplaces provide an excellent platform to enable that development”, says Jakob Tolleryd, Partner at Verdane.

A focus area in accelerating the group’s growth will be to expand EMG’s market presence in France, Germany and the United Kingdom. The group’s growth is supported by a growing number of private educational institutions that are shifting their marketing budgets online, and over 3 000 active institutions today market their course content via EMG’s platform. Corporate clients include H&M, GE and Volvo.

 

EMG joins Verdane’s portfolio of 19 consumer internet companies across the Nordics and Germany, including Babyshop, Boozt, Desenio, EasyPark, MatHem, momox, RoyalDesign and smava. Other EdTech holdings include assistive software company Lingit and digital learning platform provider Conexus.

Fredrik Söderlindh (founder and CEO), Fredrik Högemark (co-founder and CIO) and Mattias Säker (co-founder and COO) will remain at EMG. All three will reinvest to jointly become majority owners as part of the deal.

“We are very pleased with the journey we have had with EMG and that we together with the entrepreneurs have taken the company to the next level. We are convinced that there is a continued large potential for EMG, especially internationally, where Verdane with its industry knowledge will be an excellent partner,” says Joakim Skarborg, CEO at Novax.

The parties have agreed not to disclose further details of the transaction.

Verdane has broad experience in digital business models and online marketplaces, and the team understands our challenges. Our partnership started with a cup of coffee and grew out of interesting discussions we had around our business model. It’s the perfect time for us to welcome a tech investor with both the experience and network to help us ramp up growth and continue expanding internationally. We are very proud of what we have achieved together with Novax since 2010 and look forward to continuing that journey.

About Verdane

Verdane aims to be the preferred growth partner to tech-enabled businesses in Northern Europe. Verdane funds provide flexible growth capital to fast-growing software, consumer internet, energy or high-technology industry businesses, through both majority and minority investments in individual companies and portfolios. Verdane funds act as ambitious, active and long-term owners, helping management teams and companies accelerate and sustain growth by leveraging the Verdane advisory team’s capabilities and proven track record in driving business value for companies whose growth is driven by, or connected to, technological development. Verdane funds’ current portfolio includes Conexus, EasyPark, Freespee, HornetSecurity, inRiver, Lingit, Scanmarket and Vaadin. Verdane has 44 employees working out of offices in Copenhagen, Helsinki, London, Oslo and Stockholm. For more information, please visit www.verdane.com

 

About EMG - Educations Media Group

EMG is the market leader of education marketing and runs several of the world’s largest search engines for education and workplace training. The group’s 20 local brands include studentum.se, utbildning.se, gymnasium.se, kurser.se and, internationally, educations.com.  EMG works with over 3 000 education providers in 40 different countries across the world. EMG’s vision is to help everyone in the world find their future education and the right training for their requirements. EMG reaches out to students and professionals worldwide through its leading online services, comprehensive media partners, school visits and educational conferences and exhibitions. The global head office is located in Stockholm, with local offices in Copenhagen, Helsinki, Mannheim and Oslo.

 

About NOVAX

Novax, the investment arm of the Axel Johnson Group, is a long-term owner, operator and builder of small and medium-sized businesses. Novax current portfolio consists of; Academic Work, ApoEx, ApoHem, Concept, Datema, Filippa K, Hyper Island, Lagerhaus, RCO, Revide and STC. For more information, please visit Novax’s website: www.novax.se

Press contacts

Fredrik Söderlindh, CEO
EMG – Educations Media Group
fredrik@educations.com
+46 70 797 65 95

Jakob Tolleryd, Partner
Verdane
jakob.tolleryd@verdane.com
+46 70 964 23 80

Joakim Skarborg, CEO
Novax
+46 708 29 06 07
joakim.skarborg@novax.se