Instructure CEO to Step Down as Thoma Bravo Purchase Moves Forward

Instructure's CEO will step down in a couple of weeks after the latest purchase agreement with Thoma Bravo is complete. A special shareholders meeting scheduled for Feb. 25, 2020 has been canceled. And the board of directors for the learning management system company has come up with a plan to get through the acquisition without shareholder approval.

Under the latest arrangement, Thoma Bravo will tender an offer by Feb. 24 to acquire all outstanding shares of Instructure common stock directly from shareholders. Late last week, the venture capital company raised its previous offer of $47.60 per share to $49 per share.

"The board unanimously supports this structure as the clearest path to maximize value for all Instructure stockholders," Josh Coates, Instructure executive chairman of the board of directors, said in a statement. "We encourage all stockholders to tender their shares in support of the transaction."

Dan Goldsmith, current Instructure CEO, will be leaving the company March 6. According to a press release, the company will form an office of the CEO with a group of senior executives to lead the business until a successor is named. The board said that it would hire an executive search firm to assist in finding a replacement. Goldsmith joined Instructure as president in June 2018; he became CEO in January 2019.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • abstract smartphone translucent screen displaying AI interface

    Apple Unveils Redesigned Siri AI

    At its recent Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple announced Siri AI, a redesigned version of its voice assistant that Apple describes in its own announcement as "a profoundly more capable and personal assistant." The update is intended to make Siri more conversational, more context-aware, and more useful across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro.

  • child stands with a laptop, in front of various drawings related to math and science

    Why Screen Time Limits Are Not the Answer

    At a fundamental level, screen time policies and laws aim to address academic achievement by balancing digital instruction with traditional teaching methods. But they do not tackle how devices are used.

  • abstract electronic circuit board 3d rendering

    Content Infrastructure, Governance Lag Behind Agentic AI Adoption

    AI agents have moved into mainstream enterprise use, but the content infrastructure needed to support them has struggled to keep up, according to a new report from cloud content management company Box.

  • woman working on laptop with virtual community interface

    New Carahsoft Community Offers Free Resources for AI and Cyber Readiness

    Carahsoft has created a new community for K-12 schools and districts designed to help education leaders navigate AI adoption and cyber readiness.