Skillsoft
 | |
| Formerly | SmartForce[1] |
|---|---|
| Company type | Public |
| Industry | Software as a service |
| Founded | August 8, 1998[citation needed] |
| Headquarters | 300 Innovative Way, Suite 201[2], Nashua, NH , United States[3] |
Key people | Jeff Tarr (CEO/Director) Richard Walker (CFO) Mark Onisk (Chief Content Officer) Apratim Purakayastha (CTO)[4] |
| Products | Educational technology, learning management systems, training content |
Number of employees | 2,400 (2014)  |
| Subsidiaries | Codecademy |
| Website | www |
Skillsoft is an American educational technology company that produces learning management system software and content.
History
[edit]Skillsoft was founded by Charles Moran in 1998. Moran served as chief executive officer and President from 1998 to 2015.[5]
Skillsoft had an IPO under the stock symbol SKIL in February 2000[6] and a SPO in July 2001.[7][8] In June 2021, Skillsoft became a publicly traded company once again under the same stock symbol.[9]
Skillsoft acquired Books24x7 in 2001.[10] In 2002, Skillsoft merged with Dublin-based IT courseware company SmartForce (formerly CBT Systems), with the combined company retaining the Skillsoft name,[11] establishing a common headquarters in Ireland.[12] The company acquired NETg from Thomson Corporation in 2007.[11]
In May 2010, the company was bought out for $1.2 billion by SSI Investments III Limited, a firm funded by Berkshire Partners, Advent International and Bain Capital.[13][14] Skillsoft acquired Element K from NIIT in October 2011, and MindLeaders from ThirdForce Group in September 2012.[13]
Skillsoft was sold by Berkshire Partners to Charterhouse Capital Partners for $2.0 billion on April 28, 2014.[13] Later that year, Skillsoft acquired SumTotal Systems in September 2014.[15] In May 2015, Skillsoft acquired Vodeclic SAS.[16]
In September 2017, Skillsoft launched virtual coding practice lab CodeX, which provides coding exercises with embedded video content.[17][18]
On June 14, 2020, Skillsoft voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States.[19] On August 27, 2020, Skillsoft was able to announce that it had emerged from bankruptcy. During the court-supervised process the company was able to reduce its debt by $1.5 billion US dollars.[20]
In June 2021, Skillsoft was acquired by Churchill Capital. Churchill Capital then merged with Software Luxembourg, then acquired the Global Knowledge technical training platform.[9][21] The combined company would be known as Skillsoft. Leadership coaching platform Pluma was also acquired that same year.[22]
In December 2021, Skillsoft announced that it would acquire Codecademy, an online computer programming learning platform, for approximately $525 million in cash and stock.[23] The sale was completed on April 5, 2022.[24]
In 2022, Skillsoft sold SumTotal to Cornerstone on Demand for $200 million.[25]
References
[edit]- ^ "Struggling SmartForce to merge with US counterpart". Irish Times. 2002-06-11. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
- ^ "Contact Skillsoft to learn more about enterprise-wide education". Archived from the original on 2018-01-26. Retrieved 2018-01-26.
- ^ "Skillsoft Corporation Company Information". Hoovers. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
- ^ "Skillsoft Leadership Team".
- ^ "Commvault Systems Inc (CVLT.OQ) Company officers". Reuters.com. Reuters. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
- ^ "Skillsoft Corp (SKIL) IPO". NASDAQ. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
- ^ "Skillsoft Corp (SKIL) SPO". NASDAQ. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
- ^ Brown, Rodney H. (February 15, 2010). "SkillSoft to go private in $1B buyout from Bain and partners". Boston Business Journal. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
- ^ a b "Skillsoft and Churchill Capital Corp II Announce Skillsoft's Post-Closing Executive Leadership Team" (Press release). 7 June 2021.
- ^ "goFLUENT Taps Former Skillsoft Executive as Part of Global Expansion". Business Wire. Business Wire. 4 September 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
- ^ a b "About Skillsoft". Skillsoft. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
- ^ Taylor, Charlie. "Dublin-headquartered Skillsoft files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2022-05-24.
- ^ a b c "Skillsoft". Berkshire Partners. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
- ^ Suria, Asif (April 6, 2010). "Merger Arbitrage Mondays: April 5, 2010". Seeking Alpha. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
- ^ Bersin, Josh (October 1, 2014). "Skillsoft Acquisition of SumTotal: Corporate Training Market Disruption?". Forbes. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
- ^ "Skillsoft Announces Acquisition of Vodeclic". BusinessWire. Berkshire Hathaway. May 7, 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
- ^ "Skillsoft Unveils New Virtual Coding Practice LabsDATAQUEST". www.dqindia.com. 18 September 2017. Retrieved 2017-10-13.
- ^ "Skillsoft Opens New Coding Practice Lab". Lifehacker Australia. 2017-09-18. Retrieved 2017-10-13.
- ^ "E-learning company Skillsoft files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy". Reuters. 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
- ^ Majid, Anigah (4 September 2020). "How Skillsoft got in and out of bankruptcy in just over 2 months". Elearning Inside. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
- ^ "Churchill Capital to merge with Software Luxembourg, buy Global Knowledge".
- ^ Burton, Amber (2022-05-09). "Ed tech looks a lot like Netflix". Protocol. Retrieved 2022-05-24.
- ^ "Skillsoft to Acquire Codecademy, a Leading Platform for Learning High-Demand Technical Skills, Creating a Worldwide Community of More Than 85 Million Learners" (Press release). Skillsoft. Retrieved 2021-12-22.
- ^ "Skillsoft Completes Acquisition of Codecademy" (Press release). Skillsoft Corp. April 5, 2022 – via Business Wire.
- ^ "Cornerstone Acquires SumTotal for $200 Million". 13 June 2022.