Beech Tree supports Learnlight for Arenalingua bolt-on

The acquisition was backed both by Beech Tree and the Learnlight management team in a transaction that saw the company wholly acquire Arenalingua. The acquisition forms a part of Learnlight's European expansion strategy.

A source close to the deal told Unquote that Learnlight is looking at another acquisition in Germany and one in the Netherlands. Germany represents a particularly attractive market for the company as it has not yet benefited from digital transformation in the sector as much as in the UK.

Learnlight was created with the merger of ISpeakUSpeak and Training Express in 2007. Learnlight acquired Communicaid in 2017 with the backing of Beech Tree. This acquisition is the first since Communicaid. The firm used funds from its Beech Tree Private Equity Fund II, which invests between £10-40m in companies.

Company
Arenalingua was founded in 2003 and has six offices in cities in Germany, including Frankfurt, Hamburg, Cologne, Munich, Nuremburg and Stuttgart. Arenalingua's client base includes companies such as Sky, EY and Adidas. It offers government-sponsored English language courses for employees, German training for professionals in specialist areas such as medicine, healthcare or engineering, and German training for qualified migrants.

People
Learnlight – Benjamin Joseph (CEO).
Arenalingua – Rüdiger Rettberg (former owner).

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• Topics
• Expansion
• DACH
• Industrials
• Buy-and-build
• Build-up
• Germany