SkillSoft Acquires Element K from NIIT

21 Oct 2011

by: Margaret Snell

SkillSoft has acquired Element K from NIIT Ventures Inc. in a deal worth $110 million.

The company says that Element K’s offerings in e-learning content, virtual labs, ILT print materials and custom development services adds to and complements SkillSoft’s existing learning content and learning platform technology products. The addition of Element K employees in sales, customer support and product development also strengthens SkillSoft's long-term ability to compete against many larger companies with more comprehensive product offerings for a greater share of the $48 billion global corporate training market.

Element K has many of the same financial and operating characteristics as SkillSoft's business model, including an annual recurring subscription-based licensing model for access to its learning resources library, a direct sales force distribution system complemented by resellers and telesales support, and a Global 2000 client base offering visibility through multi-year contracts. As a result, over time, the acquisition is expected to support both SkillSoft's revenue predictability and growth.

Chuck Moran, CEO of SkillSoft, said: “As our enterprise customer organizations are increasingly connecting their learning strategies to their overall business objectives, we find those organizations looking for a greater range of products and services. Our customers have many choices of suppliers to meet their ever-expanding needs, and we continuously look for ways to expand our capabilities to sustain and increase our competitiveness.

The acquisition will immediately bring a wider range of solutions to the customers of both SkillSoft and Element K. In addition, by combining the two organizations we will be able to expand our investments in the technology, service and content solutions delivered to customers. This is key to increasing our ability to compete with the many larger players in the global corporate training market."

 

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