EY advises Sanoma on acquisition of Pearson K12 learning business in Italy

EY advised Sanoma in the announced acquisition of Pearson’s local K12 learning content business in Italy and its small exam preparation business in Germany

On Tuesday 7 June 2022, it was announced that Sanoma signed an agreement to acquire Pearson’s local K12 learning content business in Italy and its small exam preparation business in Germany.

The acquisition has a perfect fit with Sanoma’s strategy to grow its K12 learning business through M&A, and it marks Sanoma’s entry to Italy, one of the largest K12 learning services markets in Europe.

Net sales of the acquired businesses were EUR 117 million and adjusted EBITDA was EUR 30 million in 2021 (pro forma). The agreed enterprise value is EUR 190 million, corresponding to a multiple of 6.4x (EV / Pro forma adjusted EBITDA 2021). Sanoma plans to invest approx. EUR 10 million in the development of digital learning platforms for secondary education over three years following the closing of the acquisition. The investments will substantially bolster Sanoma Learning’s digital offering for secondary education not only in Italy, but also in its other operating countries. Sanoma also announces its strategic growth ambition to increase the Group net sales to over EUR 2 billion by 2030, with at least 75% coming from the learning business.

EY provided financial, tax, operational and tech due diligence services to Sanoma, once again demonstrating EY’s capabilities to deploy seasoned multi-discipline advisory teams to provide high-quality advice to our clients in their strategic landmark transactions requiring international network and sector related expertise.

Read more from Sanoma's press release.