Colibri Group Announces Strategic Acquisition of Becker Professional Education and OnCourse Learning

ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Colibri Group (“Colibri”), a professional education company with leading brands that provide learning solutions to licensed professionals, announces today that the company has acquired Becker Professional Education and OnCourse Learning. With this agreement, Colibri Group adds leading capabilities in accounting, mortgage, and governance, risk and compliance (GRC) to its portfolio of professional education services.

“This expansion of our capabilities continues to serve our mission of leading others to achieve more and thrive in their careers and enables us to work with entirely new categories of accounting and GRC while deepening our mortgage solutions for financial services firms and professionals,” said Jeff James, Chief Executive Officer of Colibri Group. “We are thrilled that Becker and OnCourse Learning, with their industry leadership and high-quality education, will be joining our group of companies.”

Becker is a global leader in Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam prep and offers market-leading products in accounting continuing professional education and Certified Management Accountant (CMA) test prep. Becker has been helping candidates achieve their CPA licensure and further advance their careers for more than 60 years. Becker has served partners in nearly 40 countries including the top 100 accounting firms in the United States.

OnCourse Learning is a leading provider of regulatory and compliance education solutions for the mortgage and financial sectors. OnCourse Learning empowers financial institutions to prepare their frontlines, compliance teams, executive leadership and board of directors with comprehensive enterprise compliance, risk management and professional development education.

“These businesses support our focus around becoming the most admired professional learning company in the world, and the world-class talent at both businesses will contribute significantly to achieving this vision," continued James.

Colibri Group is the gold standard in professional education and serves millions of individual and business customers through its flexible, online and in-person solutions. Colibri Group is backed by Gridiron Capital, LLC (“Gridiron Capital”), a leading investment firm focused on partnering with founders, entrepreneurs, and management teams.

About Colibri Group

Colibri Group is building the future of professional education. Today, millions of licensed professionals start and advance their careers through the company’s online and in-person learning solutions for licensing, continuing education, test preparation and professional development. Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, Colibri Group provides a holistic learning experience for students and professionals to achieve more and thrive throughout their careers in real estate, financial services, teacher education, healthcare, valuation and property services, among other professions. Visit colibrigroup.com for more information.

About Becker

Becker is the leader in the CPA (Certified Public Accountant) exam review industry offering a full accounting career life cycle solution from training to licensing to continuing education. Founded in 1957, Becker’s global presence includes more than 2,900 partners—including accounting firms, societies, corporations, government agencies and universities.

About OnCourse Learning

OnCourse Learning is the leading educational technology provider for governance, risk and compliance (“GRC”) licensing and webinar solutions for the banking, credit union, state banking associations (“SBA”) and mortgage industries. Founded in 2007, OnCourse Learning has delivered pre-licensing, continuing education, professional development and compliance training to financial institutions and 190,000+ mortgage professionals.

About Gridiron Capital

Gridiron Capital is an investment firm focused on partnering with founders, entrepreneurs, and management teams, and creating value by building middle-market companies into industry-leaders in branded consumer, B2B and B2C services, and niche industrial segments in the United States and Canada. We help transform growing companies by winning together through hard work, partnerships grounded in shared values and a unique culture that comes from hands-on experience building and running businesses. As a team led by former operators and entrepreneurs, we know what it takes to run successful businesses on a day-to-day basis. Additional information is available on the firm’s website: www.gridironcapital.com.