IBL News | New York
Online education platform Coursera said on Wednesday it will buy rival Udemy in an all-stock deal, valuing the combined merged company at $2.5 billion.
Coursera shareholders will own 59%, and Udemy shareholders will own 41% of the company.
Udemy shareholders would receive 0.8 shares of Coursera for each held, valuing the company at about $930 million. Coursera shares were up about 8%, while Udemy jumped nearly 28%.
According to Morgan Stanley, which acted as Exclusive Financial Advisor to Udemy, the company will generate annual run-rate cost synergies of $115MM within 24 months of closing and will have $1.2Bn in cash.
The deal unites two of the largest U.S.-based online learning platforms at a time when course enrollment growth has cooled, prompting companies to seek scale and pursue enterprise clients and more predictable subscription revenue.
Coursera and Udemy bet that a combined platform will be better positioned to capture corporate demand for workforce training, particularly in artificial intelligence, data science, and software development, as employers invest in reskilling workers amid rapid advances in generative AI.
Coursera, which partners with universities and institutions to offer degree programs and professional certificates, has increasingly focused on enterprise customers. At the same time, Udemy operates a marketplace of independent instructors selling individual courses and subscriptions to businesses.
Shares of online education companies have lagged the broader market amid concerns about competition, pricing pressure, and AI’s impact.
Udemy shares have fallen about 35% so far this year, while Coursera is down roughly 7% over the same period, leaving both companies trading well below their post-IPO highs.
Morgan Stanley led the IPOs of Coursera, Udemy, Instructure, Docebo, Phoenix Education Partners, and Kinder Care. It was the exclusive financial advisor to Udacity on its sale to Accenture and to Kahoot! – $1.7Bn Public Takeover Led by GSPE companies trading well below their post-IPO highs.