Bendon Acquires School Zone Publishing, Expanding into K–6 Educational Products

Acquisition adds a 45+ year, teacher-developed educational brand to Bendon's licensed children's activity and coloring portfolio

ASHLAND, Ohio & GRAND HAVEN, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bendon LLC ("Bendon" or "the Company"), a designer and distributor of licensed children's coloring, activity, and educational products, today announced it has acquired School Zone Publishing Company ("School Zone"), a family-owned, independent publisher of K–6 education products.

Founded in 1979 and headquartered in Grand Haven, Michigan, School Zone has built a 45-plus year track record of teacher-developed, standards-based curriculum spanning workbooks, flash cards, and learning sets for children from pre-K through 6th grade, including its Big Workbooks, Get Ready!, Deluxe Edition, and Activity Zone series. The Company's products are sold through a variety of digital and brick-and-mortar channels including Amazon, Costco, Walmart and Target, and are complemented by Anywhere Teacher, a proprietary subscription-based digital learning platform offering teachers and families access to thousands of curriculum-aligned educational resources.

"School Zone has spent decades building a trusted name in children's education, and we're honored to carry that legacy forward," said Ben Ferguson, CEO of Bendon. "This acquisition gives us an immediate foothold in the educational publishing space, and we believe it pairs perfectly with what we've built at Bendon. We see real opportunity to expand School Zone's reach through our retail relationships and distribution network, while investing in the brand and its digital offerings like Anywhere Teacher."

Together, the two companies expect to bring School Zone's diversified educational products to more families, classrooms, and retailers nationwide, while continuing to grow Anywhere Teacher's subscriber base.

"This acquisition is about building a platform that can reach kids wherever they're learning, whether that's in a classroom, at home, or on a screen-free device with a workbook in hand," said Charles Yoon, Managing Partner of Brightstar Capital Partners’ lower middle market strategy, financial partner to Mr. Ferguson and Bendon management. "School Zone's products have shaped how millions of children learn to read, write, and do math, and pairing that legacy with Bendon's distribution and retail relationships is exactly the kind of value creation we set out to build."

About Bendon

Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Ashland, Ohio, Bendon is a designer and distributor of licensed children's coloring, activity, and educational products. The Company partners with leading entertainment licensors to develop engaging, affordable offerings distributed across a broad range of retail channels in North America. Bendon's products are designed to support hands-on, creative, and screen-free engagement for children. For more information, please visit www.bendonpub.com.

About School Zone Publishing Company

Founded in 1979 and headquartered in Grand Haven, Michigan, School Zone Publishing Company is an independent publisher of K–6 education products, offering teacher-developed, standards-based workbooks, flash cards, and learning sets alongside its Anywhere Teacher digital subscription platform. For more information, please visit www.schoolzone.com.