Renaissance, a 34-year-old Wisconsin education technology company, is getting acquired by private equity firm Francisco Partners.
Wisconsin Rapids-based Renaissance has changed hands a few times in its more than three decades in existence, most notably selling to PE firm Hellman & Friedman in 2014 for $1.1 billion. The "unicorn" exit came just a month after Google Capital, a fund managed by Google, invested $40 million in Renaissance at a $1 billion valuation. (In 2016, Google Capital changed its name to CapitalG.) Renaissance's exit was the first acquisition of a Google Capital-backed company. It was also the fund's first education investment.
Terms of the sale to Francisco Partners were not disclosed.
Renaissance was founded in Judi and Terry Paul's Wisconsin basement in 1984 and has grown to one of the top education software makers in the country. Renaissance makes education software for K–12 educators to analyze students' abilities and make personalized learning plans for students. Renaissance says its software is used in roughly one-third of all U.S. schools and more than 70 countries around the globe.
Renaissance went public in 1997. It was acquired by U.K.-based Permira Advisors for around $440 million in 2011.
Renaissance was in the news in March when it acquired Minnesota-based EdTech company myON. This week, Renaissance announced that Chris Bauleke, the former CEO of myON, will succeed current CEO Daniel Hamburger as the chief executive of Renaissance. Hamburger is staying on as a special adviser, Renaissance said.
"Renaissance has been one of the leading innovators in the education ecosystem for more than 30 years," Bauleke said in a statement. "I look forward to working with the Renaissance team to achieve its vision."
The deal is expected to closed in the second quarter of this year.
