EdTech M&A: what is happening now?

Is EdTech M&A booming again, even as acquisition prices fall?

EdTech acquisitions are booming in number right now, but buyers are paying lower revenue multiples than they did during the previous investment cycle.

Corum Group recorded 149 EdTech acquisitions through August 2026, already beating its previous ten-year record of 133 deals for the whole of 2025. Berkery Noyes found a similar increase across the broader education market, counting 244 transactions in the first half of 2026, up 39% from the previous six months. A deal count that beats ten years of records is one of the market signals we track every quarter in our report on edtech.

The pace continued into the third quarter. According to Berkery Noyes, education M&A volume increased from 139 transactions in the second quarter to 149 in the third, taking the first-nine-month total to approximately 393 deals.

The two datasets cover different businesses. Corum focuses on education technology, while Berkery Noyes also includes childcare, professional training, educational services, and other categories.

But the financial numbers are less spectacular. Berkery Noyes reported $6.5 billion in disclosed transaction value in each of the two consecutive half-year periods ending June 2026. Deal count increased substantially while disclosed spending stayed flat.

The valuation data show how much the market has changed. Berkery Noyes reported that the median disclosed revenue multiple across education transactions fell from 2.3 times revenue in the second half of 2025 to 1.3 times in the first half of 2026, a 43% decline.

Its third-quarter report also showed the median revenue multiple falling from 1.8 times in 2025 to 1.4 times during the first nine months of 2026. Interestingly, the median EBITDA multiple moved in the opposite direction, increasing from 14.1 times to 15.0 times.

For a company generating $20 million in annual revenue, the difference between a 2.3x and a 1.3x valuation is $20 million: $46 million versus $26 million. Actual acquisition prices also depend on profitability, growth, debt, and the company's specific assets.

The size of the target makes a substantial difference. Berkery Noyes found a median revenue multiple of 1.7x for deals worth $10 million to $160 million, compared with 5.9x for deals above $160 million, across its two-and-a-half-year sample ending June 2026.

The historical comparison is striking. Ciesco's analysis of PitchBook data recorded 446 EdTech mergers and buyouts worth $19.6 billion in 2021. Volume fell to 243 deals in 2023 before recovering slightly to 254 in 2024.

Today's stronger acquisition activity comes after that correction, with greater interest in established software, institutional customers, and businesses that can improve an acquirer's operating margins.

These valuation figures come from different transaction samples, so they should not be interpreted as price changes for the same companies.

Valuation indicator	Earlier benchmark	Recent benchmark
Median revenue multiple, half-year comparison	2.3x	1.3x
Change in half-year revenue multiple	-	−43%
Median revenue multiple, annual comparison	1.8x (2025)	1.4x (2026 YTD)
Median EBITDA multiple	14.1x (2025)	15.0x (2026 YTD)
Revenue multiple, $10M–$160M transactions	-	1.7x
Revenue multiple, transactions above $160M	-	5.9x
EdTech deal volume, PitchBook/Ciesco	446 (2021)	254 (2024)

The multiples reflect different disclosed-deal samples and transaction periods. They are useful market benchmarks rather than universal valuation rules.

Why are so many EdTech companies being acquired now?

EdTech buyers are currently acquiring established customers, software capabilities, and opportunities to cut costs, especially in markets where building those assets independently would take years.

Look at three transactions with very different businesses behind them.

Coursera combined with Udemy to build a larger online learning platform and target $115 million in annual cost synergies. Main Capital Partners announced deals involving Tribal Group and Watermark Insights, two providers of software deeply embedded in university operations. McGraw Hill acquired Teachally and TeachFX to add AI-powered teaching capabilities to its existing education products.

Coursera wants greater scale and operating efficiency. Main wants institutional software businesses with established customer relationships. McGraw Hill wants technology it can distribute through an existing commercial network.

Corum's acquisition data also show that the market has plenty of smaller repeat buyers. Constellation Software completed four EdTech acquisitions through August 2026, while Valsoft, Newsela, and 360training.com each completed two.

360training.com's purchases are particularly revealing. The company acquired assets from Atlantic Training, adding 305 compliance courses and the WAVE environmental, health, and safety software platform. It also acquired assets from Electronic Medical Certification to expand its healthcare certification business.

Is private equity taking over EdTech?

Private equity has become one of the biggest forces in EdTech acquisitions, particularly through established investment firms and their existing portfolio companies.

Corum reported that private equity firms accounted for 29% of the 149 EdTech transactions recorded through August 2026. Berkery Noyes identified 99 financially sponsored education transactions during the first nine months, representing approximately 25% of total deal volume but 40% of disclosed transaction value.

Financial sponsors are involved in only about one-quarter of transactions in Berkery Noyes' sample, yet those transactions represent two-fifths of the money spent in deals with disclosed values.

Software Equity Group found an even stronger private equity presence in its narrower education SaaS dataset for 2025. Approximately 54% of transactions involved private equity directly, private-equity-backed strategic buyers, or PE/VC-backed acquirers.

That includes companies buying businesses through existing portfolio platforms, which can make financial investors less visible than their actual influence suggests.

Bain Capital's acquisition of PowerSchool and KKR's purchase of Instructure are two prominent examples. Main Capital Partners has taken a more focused approach through institutional software acquisitions involving Tribal Group and Watermark Insights.

With revenue multiples under pressure, private equity investors will need enough growth and operational improvement to justify acquisition prices, financing costs, and future exit valuations.

Are billion-dollar EdTech acquisitions still happening?

Billion-dollar EdTech acquisitions are still happening, but the largest transactions tend to involve mature platforms, substantial customer bases, or established education networks.

In 2024, Bain Capital acquired PowerSchool in a deal with approximately $5.6 billion in enterprise value. KKR bought Instructure, the company behind Canvas, for approximately $4.8 billion in enterprise value.

Together, those two take-private transactions represented around $10.4 billion in enterprise value.

More recently, Coursera and Udemy completed their all-stock combination in May 2026. When the deal was announced in December 2025, the companies had an implied combined equity value of approximately $2.5 billion based on their trading prices immediately before the announcement. Because shareholders received stock, that valuation was not a fixed cash purchase price.

The broader education sector has also produced large transactions. Berkery Noyes identified the announced $1.7 billion combination of Brazil's YDUQS and Afya and KKR's announced $1.3 billion acquisition of XCL Education among the biggest education deals in 2026.

Yet Corum's pure EdTech dataset tells another story. Through August 2026, its largest recorded transaction was Aura's $682 million acquisition of Australian online safety company Qoria.

That deal carried a reported revenue multiple of 9.2x, substantially above the median education transaction multiple reported by Berkery Noyes.

Transaction	Announced value	Business
Bain Capital / PowerSchool	$5.6B EV	K-12 administration software
KKR / Instructure	$4.8B EV	Learning management systems
Coursera / Udemy	~$2.5B combined equity value at announcement	Online learning and workforce skills
YDUQS / Afya	~$1.7B reported transaction value	Medical education
KKR / XCL Education	~$1.3B	School network
Aura / Qoria	$682M	School digital safety
Main Capital / Tribal Group	~$256M reported value	Student information systems

These deals span different years and include different valuation measures. Several involve the broader education sector rather than pure EdTech software.

Which EdTech sectors are getting the most acquisitions?

Online education, workforce training, and student administration are currently attracting nearly three-quarters of the EdTech acquisitions tracked by Corum Group.

Through August 2026, Corum recorded 44 online education transactions, 36 workforce training acquisitions, and 31 student management and administration deals. Which segments, from online education to student administration, count as edtech is spelled out in our market report about edtech.

Together, those categories accounted for 111 of 149 acquisitions, or approximately 74.5% of the total. Online education alone represented nearly 30%.

Online education remains fragmented, which creates opportunities to combine course libraries, instructors, and distribution platforms. Workforce training has demand tied to professional certification, compliance, and employee development. Administration software serves schools and universities that need reliable systems for enrollment, records, and reporting.

Berkery Noyes' broader education dataset shows a somewhat different distribution. K-12 Media and Tech recorded 27 transactions in the third quarter, while Professional Training Services and Childcare Services each recorded 40 in the first half.

One less obvious category is school safety software. Aura's $682 million acquisition of Qoria combines family digital protection with school safety and wellbeing technology, while CENTEGIX's acquisition of Pikmykid expands its tools for school operations and student safety.

Why are investors buying school administration software?

School administration software is one of the most attractive EdTech acquisition targets because universities and schools depend on these systems for everyday operations, and replacing them can be difficult.

Main Capital Partners made its interest particularly clear in September 2026, announcing plans to acquire Tribal Group's operating businesses and Watermark Insights within two days.

Tribal provides student information and education management software to more than 660 institutions worldwide, including over 200 universities. Its systems handle admissions, enrollment, assessments, student progression, and graduation.

Watermark serves approximately 1,500 institutional customers with software for accreditation, faculty development, and academic effectiveness.

The products complement each other. Tribal manages important stages of a student's academic journey, while Watermark supports institutional reporting and educational quality.

Main is also buying geographic reach. Tribal has an established customer base across the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Asia-Pacific. Watermark provides access to a substantial North American university market.

According to reporting by The Wall Street Journal, Watermark generated approximately $70 million to $100 million in annual recurring revenue, with double-digit growth. Its acquisition price was not publicly disclosed.

A university replacing its student information system must migrate sensitive records, reconnect other applications, retrain staff, and avoid disrupting the academic calendar. Those practical difficulties can make an established provider harder to replace.

But concentration also creates risks for customers. As providers combine more services, schools may have fewer independent alternatives or become increasingly dependent on a single vendor. Whether the latest acquisitions will lead to higher prices remains an open question.

Is the Coursera-Udemy merger actually working?

The Coursera-Udemy merger is already delivering a larger business and faster planned cost savings, but the latest financial results show much less organic growth than the headline figures suggest.

Coursera completed the combination on May 11, 2026, bringing together an ecosystem of approximately 290 million learners, 18,000 enterprise customers, and 95,000 instructors.

Its second-quarter results reported $298.6 million in revenue, up 60% year over year, alongside $42.7 million in adjusted EBITDA and a 14.3% adjusted EBITDA margin.

The 60% growth figure needs a closer look.

According to Coursera's quarterly SEC filing, $103.8 million of the $111.5 million revenue increase came from incorporating Udemy after the acquisition. Excluding the merger, Coursera's revenue grew by $7.7 million, or roughly 4%.

There is also a real integration cost. Coursera's shareholder letter disclosed $79.8 million in merger, integration, and restructuring-related costs for the quarter. The company reported an $80.4 million GAAP net loss despite its positive adjusted EBITDA.

On the other hand, management raised its planned annual run-rate net synergies to at least $85 million by the end of 2026, with the full $115 million target expected before the end of 2027.

Compared with more than $1.5 billion in combined 2025 revenue, the full savings target represents about 7.7% of annual sales.

Coursera also committed $100 million to LearnVector, a newly formed AI-native learning company founded by Andrew Ng.

For now, cost reductions look more convincing than a new surge in customer demand.

Is AI making EdTech acquisitions more attractive or more risky?

AI is creating new EdTech acquisition opportunities while threatening the value of companies that mainly sell explanations, practice exercises, and basic educational content.

McGraw Hill acquired Teachally and TeachFX in September 2026. Teachally develops AI tools for lesson planning, curriculum customization, and educational content creation. TeachFX uses AI to analyze classroom instruction and support teacher coaching. AI teaching tools like Teachally and TeachFX are the kind of tech we sort by what works today and what is still on paper in our report on edtech.

The two products tackle different problems for teachers, and both can potentially benefit from McGraw Hill's relationships with schools and educators.

Faria Education Group followed a related strategy with its August 2026 acquisition of Edu Intelligence, an AI-native platform that connects school assessment, attendance, behavior, and wellbeing information.

Faria already serves more than 10,000 schools and 4 million students across 155 countries. That gives Edu Intelligence access to a distribution network it would otherwise have to build independently.

Sanoma's acquisition of Fluentbe adds another approach. Fluentbe combines AI-powered language instruction with human educators and proprietary learning content. It served more than 40,000 students and worked with over 600 active tutors at the time of the acquisition.

Yet the same technology creates a problem for some existing businesses. General-purpose AI systems can produce increasingly capable explanations, personalized exercises, and instant feedback, potentially reducing what students are willing to pay for standalone learning applications.

A university cannot simply replace its student records system with a chatbot, while a student paying mainly for mathematics explanations may have increasingly capable alternatives.

AI also brings additional development, integration, and operating costs. Most recent acquisition prices remain undisclosed, and companies have released limited information about revenue or profitability generated by their acquired AI products.

Are traditional education publishers turning into EdTech companies?

Traditional education publishers are increasingly buying software, tutoring platforms, and AI products to expand beyond textbooks and digital learning materials.

Sanoma is a particularly useful company to examine because its recent acquisitions form a clear pattern.

In March 2026, Sanoma acquired Dutch tutoring platform Mr. Chadd. In April, it purchased Spanish educational publisher Vicens Vives. In July, it bought Fluentbe, a Polish AI-powered language tutoring company.

According to Sanoma's acquisition disclosures, the three companies generated approximately €1 million, €29 million, and €6 million in annual net sales, respectively. Together, their reported annual revenue amounted to around €36 million.

The purchases cover three different activities: personalized tutoring, traditional educational content, and AI-supported language learning.

All three businesses operate in countries where Sanoma already has an established presence.

Rather than entering unfamiliar markets, the company is adding products it can sell through existing relationships. In Poland, Sanoma identified more than 2 million digital users across its Nowa Era and VULCAN platforms as a potential distribution base for Fluentbe.

McGraw Hill is pursuing a similar expansion into AI-powered teacher support through Teachally and TeachFX.

Are struggling EdTech companies being bought cheaply as venture funding dries up?

EdTech's funding collapse is giving buyers more opportunities to acquire companies under financial pressure, although the available data do not show how many deals are genuinely distressed sales.

Anthology offers one of the strongest examples of how the sector's financial difficulties can change ownership structures.

The education software provider completed a Chapter 11 restructuring and recapitalization, with Blackboard emerging as a standalone, debt-free business in March 2026.

Blackboard retained important products including its learning management system, Ally, Illuminate, Evaluate, and institutional effectiveness software.

But Anthology's restructuring should not be confused with a conventional acquisition. The company went through a formal financial reorganization, rather than simply selling its assets to a strategic buyer at an agreed market price.

HolonIQ data show that global EdTech venture investment reached approximately $20.8 billion in 2021 before falling to $10.6 billion in 2022, around $3 billion in 2023, and $2.3 billion in 2024.

Funding improved slightly to approximately $2.6 billion in 2025, but remained nearly 88% below the 2021 peak. During the first half of 2026, venture funding totaled roughly $1 billion, down approximately 25.7% from the comparable previous-year period.

Meanwhile, Corum's EdTech acquisition count through August had already surpassed the previous full-year record.

A business with established school customers may therefore appeal to acquirers even when it cannot demonstrate the growth needed to attract another large venture round.

However, publicly disclosed M&A datasets do not consistently identify distressed sellers. We cannot calculate a reliable distressed-acquisition share or conclude that most companies are being bought at fire-sale prices.

Is EdTech M&A growing outside the United States?

International EdTech acquisitions are becoming an important part of the market, with approximately one-third of recent transactions crossing national borders.

Corum reported that 33% of its EdTech acquisitions through August 2026 were cross-border deals.

The United States remained the biggest market, accounting for 44% of sellers and 50% of buyers. The United Kingdom followed with 11% of sellers and 8% of buyers.

Netherlands-based Main Capital Partners announced acquisitions involving the UK's Tribal Group and the US-based Watermark Insights. Finland's Sanoma bought education businesses in Poland, Spain, and the Netherlands. Jordanian education technology company Abwaab acquired Egypt's Eduact, expanding its teacher-focused software capabilities.

Asia-Pacific presents a more mixed picture.

S&P Global Market Intelligence reported that private equity and venture capital investment in the region's broader education-services industry fell from $1.84 billion in 2024 to $240 million in 2025, an 87% decline. Deal count dropped from 57 to 35.

That dataset includes investments beyond M&A, so it cannot be directly compared with Corum's global acquisition figures.

Why are professional training companies being acquired so often?

Professional training companies are currently attractive EdTech acquisition targets because customers often need their products to qualify for jobs, pass examinations, or meet professional requirements.

Berkery Noyes recorded 40 professional training transactions during the first half of 2026, making it one of the most active categories in its education dataset.

UWorld's acquisition of Surgent Accounting & Financial Education in April 2026 offers a good example. Surgent provides accounting and professional education products, while UWorld operates exam preparation services across several disciplines.

The combined offering serves learners preparing for specific qualifications, with outcomes that are easier to define than those of general-interest courses.

360training.com has been especially active in another part of the market: compliance.

During 2026, the company acquired assets from Atlantic Training, including 305 courses covering workplace safety and regulatory training. It also expanded its healthcare certification portfolio with assets from Electronic Medical Certification, including training for ACLS, PALS, and BLS qualifications. Compliance and certification training solves a problem buyers will pay for, and we describe those buyers in our report covering the edtech market.

How much EdTech M&A spending is hidden from public view?

Most EdTech acquisition prices are never disclosed, so published transaction values capture only a small portion of the money changing hands.

According to Corum Group, just 9% of the 149 EdTech acquisitions tracked through August 2026 disclosed their financial terms.

That means approximately 13 or 14 transactions had published prices, leaving around 135 acquisitions without publicly reported valuations.

Corum recorded $900 million in disclosed transaction value, but that figure covers only the deals whose prices were available.

Berkery Noyes found a similar transparency problem in the broader education sector. Of 999 transactions tracked between the beginning of 2024 and June 2026, only 136 disclosed financial terms, approximately 13.6%.

Those deals represented $43.3 billion in known transaction value.

Berkery Noyes estimated another $7.4 billion for the 863 undisclosed transactions, bringing its estimated aggregate market value to approximately $50.7 billion.

The disclosed transactions averaged roughly $318 million each, while the estimated average for undisclosed transactions was around $8.6 million.

Large acquisitions are more likely to publish financial terms, so the disclosed-deal average is heavily influenced by the biggest transactions.

What are the most attractive EdTech companies to acquire right now?

The strongest EdTech acquisition targets today are established software providers, professional training businesses, and AI specialists that can be sold through existing education platforms.

Student information systems have strong institutional relationships, illustrated by Main Capital's Tribal Group deal. Accreditation and compliance software serves functions universities cannot easily abandon, as seen with Watermark Insights.

Professional certification businesses such as Surgent appeal to buyers because their courses address concrete qualification requirements. School safety providers like Qoria have attracted substantial premiums, while AI companies such as Teachally and Edu Intelligence offer new capabilities to buyers with established distribution networks.

Online learning marketplaces can also be attractive, but Coursera's merger with Udemy shows that cost savings and operating scale are now central parts of the investment case.

One especially interesting opportunity is specialist software that has already won the trust of schools but lacks the sales resources to expand internationally.

EdTech segment	Why buyers want it	Example
Student information systems	Embedded institutional operations	Main Capital / Tribal
Accreditation software	Reporting and compliance needs	Main Capital / Watermark
Learning management systems	Large installed customer bases	KKR / Instructure
Online learning marketplaces	Content scale and cost savings	Coursera / Udemy
Professional certification	Qualification-driven demand	UWorld / Surgent
Compliance training	Repeat corporate and regulatory needs	360training / Atlantic Training assets
AI curriculum tools	Lesson creation and customization	McGraw Hill / Teachally
AI teacher coaching	Additional products for existing schools	McGraw Hill / TeachFX
School data analytics	Integration with institutional workflows	Faria / Edu Intelligence
Digital school safety	School relationships and specialized technology	Aura / Qoria
AI language tutoring	Personalized learning and cross-selling	Sanoma / Fluentbe

These are strategically attractive segments based on observed transactions, not a valuation ranking. Actual purchase prices and returns vary substantially between companies.

Will EdTech M&A keep growing?

EdTech acquisitions have a strong chance of remaining active, but the latest numbers do not guarantee that deal volume will keep breaking records.

Corum's 149 transactions through August surpassed its previous ten-year record, while Berkery Noyes recorded consecutive quarterly increases in the broader education sector. Whether deal volume keeps climbing depends on the growth drivers we lay out in our market report about edtech.

Berkery Noyes also found that disclosed transaction value more than doubled between the second and third quarters of 2026, from $1.9 billion to $4.3 billion.

Yet the increase was influenced by large transactions, including the announced YDUQS-Afya combination. That makes it difficult to interpret the jump as evidence that buyers are broadly willing to pay higher prices.

Financing conditions could also slow acquisitions, especially leveraged transactions. Schools and universities remain sensitive to budgets, and AI is creating uncertainty around the durability of some education products.

Coursera needs to deliver its planned cost savings while restoring stronger organic growth. Main Capital must show that its institutional software acquisitions can grow under new ownership. Companies buying AI tools need evidence that customers will use and pay for them.

EdTech M&A: what is really happening now?

EdTech M&A is currently experiencing a major consolidation wave, with record acquisition activity, lower revenue valuations, and growing interest from private equity and established education companies.

The most important change is the gap between how many companies are being acquired and how much buyers are willing to pay. Corum's EdTech transaction count has already exceeded its previous ten-year record, while Berkery Noyes reports that median revenue multiples have declined.

Coursera and Udemy are combining platforms and cutting operating costs. Main Capital is buying software used in university administration. Sanoma and McGraw Hill are expanding into AI-supported teaching and tutoring. Companies such as 360training.com are consolidating specialized certification and compliance content.

These strategies have more in common with a mature software market than with the venture-funded education boom of 2021.

Products that schools depend on for records, compliance, and daily operations are attracting buyers for different reasons than consumer learning apps or AI tutors. The latter face greater uncertainty around competition, retention, and pricing.

For now, the EdTech M&A market is becoming more active without becoming broadly more expensive. Buyers are placing more weight on businesses that already have customers, useful products, and measurable earnings potential.