Learning analytics service Renaissance Learning today announced that it has been acquired by private equity firm Hellman & Friedman for $1.1 billion in an all-cash deal. The new deal comes just a few weeks after Renaissance closed a $40 million funding round led by Google Capital at a valuation of $1 billion. That deal made Google Capital a minority owner of the company.
It was only last month that Renaissance Learning raised $40 million from a new Google investment fund, valuing the education analysis company at $1 billion. Now the company is taking on a new owner altogether. Renaissance plans to announce on Thursday that it has been sold to the private equity firm Hellman & Friedman for $1.1 billion. Google Capital, the search giant’s investment fund, which led the fund-raising round last month, plans to stay on board as an investor. Though the transaction appears to have been directly linked to Google Capital’s investment, John J. Lynch Jr., Renaissance’s chief executive, maintains that it was all happenstance.
