Spara Capital Partners Inc. is pleased to announce the closing of its latest transaction, the sale of The Administrative Assistants Limited to Pearson PLC.
aal is a Burlington, Ontario-based provider of student information systems in the worldwide K-12 school market. Student information systems provide administrators, parents, teachers and students with information on grades, homework, attendance, reporting and other elements vital to school performance and personalized learning. aal developed and markets the Web-based system known as eSIS® which has been implemented in districts, provinces, states and countries throughout North America, and around the world including the Gulf in the Middle East.
The Company was founded in the early 1980’s by Brian Currie who is now a 30-year veteran of in the software and education industry. “After spending almost 20 years building my business, it was time for me to pursue my succession options”, recalled Brian, “You can not keep a business forever, and it is better to sell when the market timing is right and your business is still growing”. Despite the strong market conditions and positive positioning of aal, the succession process was not without its challenges. “We initially pursued a sale with a party that had sought us out without transaction advisory support. This party ultimately could not close the deal, and the news of the failed transaction became public. This created a lot of issues for us in the market with our customers and our employees”, recounts Brian. “When we decided to go to market to sell the business again, we wanted to make sure the process was handled properly… that’s where Spara came in.”
Interest in the acquisition of the Company was abundant, as news of the failed transaction brought a number of interested parties to the table. “The key”, commented Jason Sparaga, President of Spara, “was to implement a professionally managed process that validated legitimate buyers, and protected the Shareholder and the Company from another failed transaction”. Spara worked closely with the Shareholder, the Company and its other advisors, overseeing all aspects of the sale process including preparing the appropriate information for prospective buyers, negotiating the deal terms with a handful of buyers, helping to choose the most logical party to proceed with, facilitating the due diligence process, and assisting through the documentation period.
aal was acquired by Pearson, a publicly traded, world-wide learning company and the leader in the student information systems market. The strategic fit between Pearson and aal made Pearson a logical acquirer, however the size of the organization and the fact that Pearson is aal’s largest and most fierce competitor created both uncertainty and hesitation for the seller. Spara was instrumental in creating a structured process that protected the most critical competitive aspects and intellectual property of the business until there was more certainty around the closing of the transaction. “Our client’s were very concerned about confidentiality, and about providing their information to their largest competitor”, commented Eric Waxman, Managing Director of Spara. “We staged a due diligence process that involved checkpoints and sign-offs along the way by both the seller and the buyer before more sensitive and proprietary information was provided”.
Despite the sensitivities, the transaction process ran very efficiently, resulting in a successful conclusion for both parties. Spara was instrumental in facilitating the transaction, managing the more sensitive issues, and ensuring that the transaction continued to move towards close.
“I want to thank the team from Spara Capital for helping me to achieve the sale of my company, and my succession objectives”, states Brian Currie. “It was a job well done, and I’m glad they were on my side to represent the largest transaction of my life!”
Further information on Spara Capital including its services, team, and prior transactions can be found at www.sparacapital.com.