KKR to Acquire Teaching Strategies

KKR Backs Pioneering Developer of Early Childhood Curriculum, Assessment
and Engagement tools for Educators and Families

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--KKR, a leading global investment firm, announced today that KKR has agreed to acquire Teaching Strategies (the “Company”), the leading provider of curriculum, assessment and family engagement tools to the early childhood education (“ECE”) market, from global growth investor Summit Partners. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Teaching Strategies aims to empower and inspire early childhood educators as they support the development of our youngest learners during the critical, formative years from birth through third grade. Founded in 1988, the Company is the largest provider of comprehensive ECE solutions for holistic child development, offering the leading digital early learning platform, integrating curriculum, assessment and engagement tools for educators and families. Teaching Strategies employs a whole-child teaching philosophy designed to support and nurture all areas of children’s development and learning from social-emotional and cognitive skills to literacy, math and science.

“Since our founding, Teaching Strategies has been steadfast in our mission of supporting educators and the children and families they serve through innovative resources and technologies,” said John Olsen, CEO of Teaching Strategies. “We are thrilled to have KKR join us on this mission and look forward to leveraging their global expertise to build on that commitment to children, educators and families. We are also incredibly thankful for our partnership with Summit Partners, which has been instrumental in getting us to this point and positioning us for continued success.”

Webster Chua, Partner at KKR, said, “The foundation of a strong early childhood education is of critical importance when it comes to helping our children succeed in school and in life. We are excited to be supporting the Teaching Strategies team as they continue to advance the field of early childhood education through research-based, technology-enabled resources that allow educators to be significantly more effective with far more students in delivering a better education.”

Len Ferrington, Managing Director at Summit Partners, said, “We are proud to have supported Teaching Strategies’ transformative growth over the past few years and look forward to seeing the Company continue to thrive with the support of KKR.”

KKR will be acquiring Teaching Strategies through its Core Investments strategy, which represents capital with a longer-term investment horizon. Teaching Strategies is KKR’s latest investment in the education technology sector and follows investments in Weld North, Education Perfect, OverDrive, Burning Glass and MasterD, among others.

Macquarie Capital (USA) Inc. is acting as financial advisor and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is acting as legal advisor to KKR. Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. is acting as lead financial advisor to Summit and the Company with R.W. Baird & Co. acting as an additional financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis LLP acting as legal advisor.

About Teaching Strategies

With a strong belief that a child’s first eight years form a critical foundation for success in school and in life, Teaching Strategies has been an advocate for the early education community for over 40 years. Today, Teaching Strategies connects teachers, children and families to inspired teaching and learning experiences, informative data, stronger family partnerships, and professional learning through the leading early learning platform. Its products, including the most widely-used curriculum and assessment solutions The Creative Curriculum® and GOLD®, are found in over 270,000 classrooms and have served more than 15 million children across the globe. To learn why thousands of early childhood programs and many states choose to partner with Teaching Strategies to help ensure children's success in school and in life, visit teachingstrategies.com and follow us on Twitter @TeachStrategies.

About KKR

KKR is a leading global investment firm that offers alternative asset management and capital markets and insurance solutions. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and supporting growth in its portfolio companies and communities. KKR sponsors investment funds that invest in private equity, credit and real assets and has strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKR’s insurance subsidiaries offer retirement, life and reinsurance products under the management of The Global Atlantic Financial Group. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds and insurance subsidiaries. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co.

About Summit Partners

Founded in 1984, Summit Partners is a global alternative investment firm that is currently managing more than $28 billion in capital dedicated to growth equity, fixed income and public equity opportunities. Summit invests across growth sectors of the economy and has invested in more than 500 companies in technology, healthcare and other growth industries. Notable e-learning and EdTech companies backed by Summit Partners include A Cloud Guru, Allego, Immersive Labs, Jamf, LearnUpon, Lingoda and Ruffalo Noel Levitz. Summit maintains offices in North America and Europe and invests in companies around the world. For more information, please see www.summitpartners.com or follow on LinkedIn.