At an EGM this morning ThirdForce shareholders voted unanaminously to back the Irish company’ decision to acquire US firm MindLeaders Corporation, opening up the world’s largest e-learning market to the company.
MindLeaders is a long established and well-known US brand with a 25-year track record offering 2,000 learning courses to 850 organisations.
ThirdForce is already established in Ireland, the UK, the Middle East and Africa.
The combined businesses will have annual revenues of over €30m.
The acquisition will be completed in a cash and stock deal, following a successful €15m fund-raising.
“The combination of both businesses represents a compelling market proposition,” explained ThirdForce chief executive Brendan O’Sullivan.
“MindLeaders is a strong and profitable organisation with excellent people, innovative products and the potential to capture significant new business across North America.
“ThirdForce now has a presence in the world’s No 1 e-learning market whereby we will be able to market our existing product range more widely to a growing customer base and expand with new products into key sectors including adult education, workplace learning and vocational training.”
O’Sullivan said that internationally governments are rapidly turning to e-learning as a method of skills development within their societies and companies with dispersed workforces need e-learning to fulfil training requirements.
“Educational establishments are adopting a blended learning environment for coursework and testing,” O’Sullivan continued. “There is a worldwide realisation that the use of technology is pivotal in meeting such demands.”
By John Kennedy
