CompassLearning Acquired by Marlin Equity Partners: New Partner Shares Vision to Serve Generation of 'Digital Natives'

AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- CompassLearning, the award-winning 40-year-old educational software company, was acquired from Reader's Digest Association by Marlin Equity Partners on January 26, 2010.

Freed from the constraints imposed by operating as a subsidiary of a large corporate parent, CompassLearning gains the ability to respond more quickly to customer needs, enhance its product line, make strategic acquisitions, and take advantage of the expanding opportunities in the education market.

"In Marlin Equity Partners, CompassLearning gains a partner that shares its vision for dynamic growth in the education market," said its President, Eric Loeffel. "This partnership comes just as we are seeing a convergence of student interest, teacher interest, and technological innovation that will generate a real revolution in educational software. We plan to be in the forefront of this revolution with new and enhanced products, a richer curriculum, and great customer support."

"We are extremely enthusiastic about the opportunities we see in the educational software market and believe CompassLearning has established a leadership position among its peers," said Nick Kaiser,  Partner at  Marlin Equity Partners. "Given our investment focus, software expertise and financial capacity, we are confident we will bring the experience and resources needed to fully support CompassLearning's comprehensive growth initiatives."

Serving a Generation of "Digital Natives"

The market for educational software is poised for exponential growth as a generation of "digital natives" reshapes the way educators think about teaching and learning. Just as television defined the baby boomers, today's students are growing up with texting, Twitter, YouTube, and the increasingly rich, mobile, multimedia environment of the Internet. These digital natives want to learn with the technologies that infuse every other aspect of their lives. Research has confirmed that these students respond best to creative, personalized web-based learning.

CompassLearning currently addresses this need with its flagship K-12 software, Odyssey, which carefully prescribes a personalized and engaging learning path for each student. For teachers, the time-consuming task of monitoring and measuring student success is made easier with Odyssey's wide variety of reporting features.

In recognition for its product excellence, Odyssey won the 2008 and 2009 EDDIE Awards for best multi-subject website in the high school category, and the 2009 BESSIE Award for the best remedial multi-subject website in the high school category.

Odyssey recently became available in an unlimited-user licensing model allowing all students in a school or district to access the software from anywhere with Internet access. The company calls this access A(3): Anytime, Anywhere, for All students with Internet access.

And CompassLearning supports students and teachers with industry-leading customer support and professional development.

The stars have aligned for CompassLearning's continued success. Its partnership with Marlin gives CompassLearning the agility to respond to a market that is set to explode. The federal government has appropriated $100 billion in stimulus funding to reform education in America.

With a supportive partner that shares its vision, CompassLearning will enhance and expand its award-winning offerings by attracting the most talented designers, writers, and engineers, providing world-class customer service, and making strategic acquisitions in a market that is expanding with increasing velocity.

About CompassLearning  

CompassLearning was founded in 1969 on the belief computers would individualize the learning process. Since then, it has established its leadership position – serving 11 million students in 20,000 schools – by pioneering technology based on current and confirmed research. CompassLearning has more than 300 employees around the United States and is headquartered in Austin, Texas. For more information, please visit www.compasslearning.com.

About Marlin Equity Partners

Marlin Equity Partners is a Los Angeles, California-based private investment firm with over $1 billion of capital under management. The firm is focused on providing corporate parents, shareholders and other stakeholders with tailored solutions that meet their business and liquidity needs. Marlin invests in businesses across multiple industries where its capital base, industry relationships and extensive network of operational resources significantly strengthens a company's outlook and enhances value. Since its inception, Marlin, through its group of funds and related companies, has successfully completed over 30 acquisitions.  For more information, please visit www.marlinequity.com.

SOURCE CompassLearning