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Anthology Restructures, Focuses on Teaching and Learning Business

Anthology has announced a strategic restructuring, divesting its Enterprise Operations, Lifecycle Engagement, and Student Success businesses and filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in an effort to right-size its finances and focus on its core teaching and learning products.

The company's Teaching & Learning arm, comprised of Blackboard, Ally, Illuminate, and Institutional Effectiveness, will be reorganized into a stand-alone business. Ellucian has stepped up as the "stalking horse" bidder for the Enterprise Operations business, including Anthology Student, Finance & HCM, Student Verification, and Enterprise Ops Legacy. Encoura has agreed to serve as the stalking horse bidder for the Lifecycle Engagement business, including Anthology Encompass, Reach, Advance, as well as the Student Success business. Stalking horse bidders set the baseline offer in a bankruptcy auction and can be superseded by higher, competitive bids.

The restructuring process is expected to be completed over the next three to six months, without disruption to day-to-day operations.

"Anthology is an innovation powerhouse, designing solutions in partnership with our customers that empower institutions to thrive amid rapid change and rising expectations. Following a strategic review, we saw a clear inflection point and opportunity to realign these three businesses for sustainable growth while unlocking their full potential," commented Bruce Dahlgren, CEO of Anthology, in a statement. "With the strong support of our investors, a recapitalized Teaching & Learning platform is well positioned to invest in new capabilities, drive greater efficiency, and help our customers stay focused on what matters most: delivering exceptional outcomes for students."

Consultant and market analyst Phil Hill has posted a thorough breakdown of the news in several OnEdTech Newsletter posts, noting that "Coming out of the process, the new Blackboard will have $0 in long-term debt on its balance sheet." His assessment of what the overall restructuring means for the LMS and ed tech markets:

"Blackboard will continue operating through the case, but the ownership and investment thesis behind the LMS are changing. This could affect long-term product direction and stability…. The core question isn't 'Will Blackboard survive bankruptcy?' It will. Rather, it's what kind of Blackboard emerges when [investors] Nexus and Oaktree are in the driver's seat, and how higher ed institutions adjust to yet another wave of vendor consolidation."

For more information, visit the Anthology site.   

About the Author

Rhea Kelly is editor in chief for Campus Technology, THE Journal, and Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].

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