Two New York private equity firms, Veritas Equity and Leeds Equity Partners, have combined three education technology assets into a new Boca Raton, Florida-based company called Anthology.
This comes as the private equity firms announced the acquisition of Campus Labs in Buffalo, New York, iModules in Kansan City, Missouri, and Boca Raton-based Campus Management. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The merger has been in the works for about a year.
Anthology will combine the three formerly separate companies that produce complementary tools into one conglomerate. Campus Management offers enterprise resource planning tools, student information systems, and customer relationship management services. In comparison, Campus Labs provides students and campus leaders with the software to manage clubs, events, and other activities. Finally, iModules develops alumni engagement software to help colleges fundraise.
The 14 software offerings under the Anthology group will employ 1,400 workers across South Florida, New York, Kansas City, India, London, and São Paulo. Its customers include over 2,100 education institutions across 30 countries.
"I'm grateful to be leading Anthology in the development of industry-first solutions that will help institutions unify their data, improve student engagement, enhance operational efficiencies and propel online giving in support of their communities and unique missions," said Anthology Chief Executive Officer Jim Milton.
Previously the CEO and Director of Campus Management, Milton says that Anthology's greatest advantage is that its tools were all developed using Microsoft services and delivered through its Azure cloud service. Sharing that common technology stack will facilitate the technical integration of the different pieces.
Anthology will come against a slew of heavy-hitting competitors, including Ellucian, Oracle, and Workday, which all develop administrative software and student information systems used by colleges and universities. Customers won't be expected to solely adopt Anthology solutions, though. "Our intention is to be heterogeneous and play within the existing ecosystem," Milton adds.
"Going forward, Anthology will be best positioned to provide end-to-end software solutions and rich data insights to help each higher education institution execute its unique mission and vision," said Ramzi Musallam, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Partner of Veritas. "We recognize these industry leaders are incredibly complementary platforms with a shared commitment to student success."
