Excelligence Learning Corporation Acquires Frog Street Press, Inc.
Apr 19, 2017, 13:00 ET
MONTEREY, Calif., April 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Excelligence Learning Corporation, a leading provider of educational tools and solutions to early childhood and elementary school teachers and parents, has acquired Frog Street Press, Inc. Frog Street, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, is a leading provider of comprehensive early childhood education solutions for children of ages 0 – 5 years to public schools, Head Start programs and early child care centers.
Excelligence's vision is to become the world's most preferred provider of educational tools and solutions to early childhood and elementary teachers and parents. This is achieved through a commitment to its mission – to provide teachers and parents with the BEST brands at the BEST prices with the BEST service. Headquartered in Monterey, California, Excelligence serves its vision and mission through three main divisions: Supplies, Equipment, and Services.
Dipak Golechha, President & COO, noted, "Frog Street is positively impacting the next generation of children by equipping educators with research-based curriculum and best-in-class professional learning. We're delighted to bring such an industry leader into the Excelligence family as we deliver on our key strategic priority to grow our offering in the early childhood sector."
Frog Street is led by CEO Ron Chase, who will continue to lead the business going forward. Commenting on the transaction, Chase said, "Joining the Excelligence portfolio of companies provides Frog Street the opportunity to increase its market and customer awareness well beyond its core Texas geography. We believe the existing relationships that Discount School Supply and Really Good Stuff have with our target customers will allow us to reach significantly more of the early childhood programs that combine purchased curriculum with internally developed resources."
This continues an active period of acquisitions for Excelligence, having added ChildCare Education Institute to its portfolio of brands earlier this year, as well as Really Good Stuff and Children's Factory in 2016. In December of 2014, Brentwood Associates, a leading consumer-focused private equity investment firm, and its affiliates, acquired a majority stake in Excelligence.
Eric Reiter, a partner at Brentwood Associates, commented, "We look forward to working with Ron and his leadership team to expand Frog Street's market penetration, building on a content creation and development process that is led by experts and thought-leaders in early childhood education. Frog Street's strong brand reputation is a result of its customers' confidence in the capabilities of its offerings to meet the needs of early childhood programs. Moreover, its investments in curriculum implementation and professional development are well aligned with key market trends driving quality early childhood education programs."
Frog Street was advised by Signal Hill and represented by Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP. Excelligence was advised by Tyton Partners and represented by Burr & Forman LLP.
About Frog Street Press
Founded in 1989 by five kindergarten teachers, Frog Street Press has grown to be a leading provider of comprehensive early childhood education solutions for children of ages 0 – 5 years to public schools, Head Start programs and early child care centers in more than 40 states, with a major presence in Texas, California and Florida. The Company equips early childhood educators with best-in-class curricular programs with proven learning outcomes, particularly in large urban cities and lower socioeconomic areas. Based on brain development research, Frog Street's curricular programs provide intentional age-appropriate instruction that is aligned to both federal and state standards. The Company also develops engaging and interactive professional development programs, including product training, conferences and continuing education, and assessment tools to measure students' progress. For more information about Frog Street, please visit www.frogstreet.com.
About Excelligence Learning Corporation
Excelligence Learning Corporation is a leading developer, manufacturer, distributor, and multi-channel retailer of over 20,000 innovative, high-quality and grade-appropriate educational products and teaching solutions, which are sold primarily to early childhood learning centers, elementary schools, PTAs, and consumers. The company has three core divisions: Supplies (Discount School Supply, Really Good Stuff, SmarterKids, and Environments), Equipment (Children's Factory, Angeles and Steffy Wood Products), and Services (Educational Products, Inc., ChildCare Education Institute). With over 30 years of experience serving children, educators and parents, Excelligence's diversified portfolio of leading brands delivers quality, innovation, service and value on a global scale. Leading proprietary brands include: Colorations, BioColor, and Excellerations. For more information about Excelligence, please visit www.excelligence.com.
See more at: www.discountschoolsupply.com, www.reallygoodstuff.com, www.environments.com, www.childrensfactory.com, www.angelesstore.com, www.educationalproducts.com, www.cceionline.com.
About Brentwood Associates
Brentwood Associates is a leading consumer-focused private equity investment firm with a 30-year history of investing in leading middle-market growth companies. Brentwood focuses on investments in growing businesses where it is able to leverage its extensive experience in areas such as: branded consumer products; multi-location strategies; direct-to-customer marketing, including direct mail and e-commerce; niche brands with specialty distribution; education; and business services. Since 1984, Brentwood's dedicated private equity team has invested in 51 portfolio companies with an aggregate transaction value of over $6 billion. With significant experience in both investing and brand building, Brentwood is a value-added partner with entrepreneurs and senior management teams building world-class companies. For more information about Brentwood, please visit www.brentwood.com.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Jane Casey
Excelligence Learning Corporation
[email protected]
SOURCE Excelligence Learning Corporation