Reston education software company Ellucian has been acquired by The Blackstone Group Inc. (NYSE: BX) and Vista Equity Partners from previous owners TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners LP in a deal announced Monday.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
In an announcement, Blackstone and Vista said they would invest in Ellucian as part of their respective long-term strategies, with execs touting the Reston company’s digital transformation work in the higher education sector. Ellucian counts more than 2,700 customers in over 50 countries, with its clients serving more than 26 million students. It recently became the cloud partner of Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia.
TPG and Leonard Green were pursuing a sale of Ellucian in late 2019, according to PE Hub. According to that report, Ellucian generated roughly $300 million in annual corporate earnings and was potentially valued at more than $5 billion. TPG and Leonard Green jointly acquired a majority stake in the Reston company from Hellman & Friedman and JMI Equity in 2015 in a deal valued at $3.5 billion, according to a Reuters report.
Ellucian President and CEO Laura Ipsen said in a statement the new owners are making “a long-horizon commitment” to the company with “significant new capital” to accelerate its digital transformation work, expand its software-as-a-service platform and to forge new international growth.
Ipsen joined the company in late 2017, having previously worked as a general manager and senior vice president for Oracle Corp.’s cloud marketing division.
José Andrés to throw out first pitch at Nationals game
ThinkFoodGroup and World Central Kitchen founder José Andrés will throw out the first pitch at the Washington Nationals' game against the Pittsburgh Pirates Tuesday evening to mark World Central Kitchen Day at the ballpark. The Nationals are hosting the nonprofit's staff members at the game in order to celebrate their efforts to provide food aid to people in the U.S. and around the world during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The team is also donating half of the proceeds from the 50-50 raffle at Tuesday's game to World Central Kitchen. A limited-edition José Andrés bobblehead will be for sale at foco.com, with a portion of the proceeds from those sales also going to the organization.
By the rankings
No. 7 — Ranking earned by Children’s National Hospital in U.S. News & World Report’s new list of the best pediatric hospitals in the country released Tuesday. The D.C. hospital received a national ranking in 10 specialties. Boston Children’s Hospital received the No. 1 overall ranking.
Odds and ends
- D.C.-area jurisdictions are trying to figure out how to lift states of emergency as Covid-19 cases go down and vaccinations increase. (Washington Post)
- D.C. Councilwoman Brianne Nadeau, D-Ward 1, has rescinded her bill that would add a tax on sugary beverages, citing a lack of support on the council. (DCist)
- The Biden administration is fighting the release of details regarding the Trump Organization's deal to lease the Old Post Office for the Trump International Hotel. (Washington Post)
- The Richmond City Council has officially approved a November ballot referendum on the casino plan from Silver Spring's Urban One Inc. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
- CoStar founder and CEO Andy Florance has been named to the board of visitors of Virginia Commonwealth University. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
