Blackboard to merge with Fla. company Anthology

Reston-based Blackboard Inc. announced Monday it will merge with Florida company Anthology.

Anthology is a cloud-based software company focused on serving global education institutions, and Blackboard is a provider of learning management software and has more than 150 million users. Its clients include higher education institutions, K-12 schools, governments and businesses. The financial details were not disclosed in the companies’ announcement.

The combined entity will be majority owned by private equity firm Veritas Capital, and Leeds Equity Partners, another private equity firm, will hold a minority stake in the company.

Veritas and Leeds are currently the majority owners of Anthology. Providence Equity Partners LLC,  Blackboard’s existing majority owner, will also hold a minority stake in the combined company. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the year.

Anthology provides higher education enterprise software and solutions around enrollment management, student engagement, alumni fundraising and institutional effectiveness. The company serves more than 2,000 colleges and universities in more than 30 countries.

The merger will create a system of academic, administrative and student engagement applications.

Jim Milton, chairman and CEO of Anthology, will serve as chairman and CEO of the combined company.

“Upon the completion of this merger, we will have a data-driven product portfolio that seeks to touch every constituent at the institution and will aim to transform the way education uses technology to engage, connect, teach, learn and drive efficiencies across the institution,” Milton said in a statement.

“Together, Blackboard and Anthology will lead the next wave of EdTech innovation,” said Bill Ballhaus, chairman, CEO and president of Blackboard, in a statement.

“We believe that combining our companies will enable us to break down data silos across the institution and surface deeper insights about the learner so that we can deliver unmatched personalized experiences across the full learner lifecycle.”