Industry News

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt To Acquire Scholastic's Ed Tech Business

• By Joshua Bolkan
• 04/27/15

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) will acquire Scholastic's education technology and services business for $575 million.

"The acquisition would provide HMH with a leading position in intervention curriculum and services and extend its product offerings in key growth areas, including educational technology, early learning and education services, creating a more comprehensive offering for students, teachers and schools," according to an HMH news release.

The deal includes digital curricula for interventions, as well as deployment, assessment and consulting services.

"As HMH drives a learning transformation powered by technology, we believe the ed tech segment of Scholastic will strengthen our offering in both K-12 and other key growth areas, including digital intervention, early learning, consumer and professional development," said Linda K. Zecher, president and CEO at HMH, in a prepared statement. "We believe that by diversifying our education portfolio, we will be taking an important step toward optimizing our growth while also enhancing our resiliency throughout economic and market cycles."

Scholastic will reinvest the cash from the sale in children's publishing and distribution, classroom and supplemental publishing and international business.