Primary's ICS Learn to be acquired by IK-backed Skill & You

Josh O'Neill
06 January 2022

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ICS Learn, the online learning provider owned by Primary Capital Partners, is to be acquired by IK Partners-backed Skill & You, three sources familiar with the situation said.

France-based online vocational training provider Skill & You has signed a deal to buy a majority stake in ICS Learn and is awaiting regulatory approvals, the sources added.

Sell-side adviser Houlihan Lokey marketed ICS Learn's EBITDA at approximately GBP 10m in an auction that launched in H2 last year, as reported. Throughout the process, the company had been expected to fetch a mid-teens EBITDA multiple, indicating an enterprise valuation in the region of GBP 150m, one of the sources said.

ICS Learn, which sells certified training courses in fields including HR, accountancy and marketing, last year acquired Development Processes Group and Acacia Learning for undisclosed sums.

On the back of these bolt-on transactions, ICS Learn drew interest from private equity sponsors, as well as strategics, according to the first source. However, incumbent sponsor Primary Capital decided to pursue a deal with Skill & You in October last year, at which point other suitors were excluded from the auction, two of the sources said.

One key driver of Scotland-headquartered ICS Learn's growth is its apprenticeships unit. Skill & You offers online apprenticeship courses to some 120,000 students in France and Spain, according to a press release. The firm's takeover of ICS Learn will mark its first foray into the UK market.

Buyout group IK Partners acquired its majority stake in Skill & You from Andera Partners last February. Skill & You generated nearly EUR 115m in revenues in 2020, according to a press release.

Houlihan Lokey declined to comment. IK Partners and Primary Capital did not respond to requests for comment.