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M&A Moves

M&A Moves: EVERFI closed on its first international acquisition deal

Our latest mergers and acquisitions roundup also includes deals from The CoStar Group, Sev1Tech and Yes&.

Jon Chapman, EVERFI cofounder and president of global partnerships, speaking at a company event in October 2019. (Photo via @EVERFI on Twitter)

M&A Moves is a Technical.ly column where we highlight D.C.-area companies completing mergers and making acquisitions to scale their businesses. Got a submission? Email us and tell us why it belongs in the roundup.


EVERFI acquired U.K.-based EdComs.

D.C.-based social impact edtech company EVERFI has closed on its first international acquisition deal: London-based EdComs, an education insight and marketing company.

Launched in 2008, EVERFI creates digital education content and cloud-based courses for students at K-12 and higher education institutions. The company leases its content through a SaaS platform.

“Together EVERFI and EdComs can work with businesses, sports teams, and brands to create unique opportunities to help young people develop critical life skills and to be the best that they can be,” Jon Chapman, cofounder and president of global partnerships at EVERFI, said in a statement.

With this acquisition, EVERFI now has a London-based staff and will be servicing clients in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and other countries. EdComs’ team will stay based in London, with no immediate changes to its clients or staff, according to a press release. Nick Fuller, founder and CEO of EdComs, will now serve as EdComs’ president, leading the London team of staffers and reporting directly to Chapman.

“As we worked with EVERFI, a real sense developed that we were like-minded and highly complementary organizations,” Fuller said in a press release. “When they approached us about the acquisition, it was an easy choice for us as EVERFI is a recognized leader in leveraging technology to deliver social impact education.”

The CoStar Group is set to acquire STR.

D.C.-based The Costar Group, a commercial real estate information and analytics provider, announced that it is set to acquire Tennessee-based STR, a provider of data, analytics and marketplace insights for the global hospitality market. The deal is valued at $450 million in cash and is expected to close this quarter.

Since its inception in 1985 as Smith Travel Research, STR has grown to aggregate data from over 65,000 hotels worldwide. STR reports having 350 employees across 15 countries. This acquisition deal will enhance the CoStar Group’s capability to provide services to the hospitality industry.

“The STR team has built an extraordinary company that partners with the hotel industry to create benchmarks and analytics that are the primary tools hotel management and investors rely on to optimize and improve their assets,” Andrew C. Florance, founder and CEO of CoStar Group, said in a statement. “STR brings an unrivaled reputation within the global hospitality industry for their data integrity, reliability and strict confidentiality, and we look forward to continuing to build on these core values in the next chapter of STR’s growth.”

Once the deal is complete, the CoStar Group said it plans to work on creating hotel and data analytics in CoStar Suite, expand more internationally, build and sell new products, and expand benchmarking to other areas.

Sev1Tech acquires Engineering Solutions and Products.

Sev1Tech, a Woodbridge, Virginia-based IT modernization, cybersecurity and cloud services provider, announced that is has acquired Chantilly, Virginia-based Engineering Solutions and Products (ESP) for an undisclosed amount.

ESP is a logistics, readiness, system integration, IT and project management contractor for the Department of Defense. This acquisition is part of Sev1Tech’s growth strategy and has now expanded its operations into more than 38 U.S. and international locations, a press release states.

“As part of our mid-tier strategy, this transaction provides Sev1Tech with unique field and tactical capabilities,” Bob Lohfeld, CEO of Sev1Tech, said in a statement. “We are excited to demonstrate our commitment to customer service and introduce our enhanced IT capabilities to the U.S. Army.”

Yes& acquired the assets and clients of GreenSmith PR.

Alexandria, Virginia-based marketing agency Yes& has acquired the assets and clients of GreenSmith PR, a Fairfax, Virginia-based PR, marketing, advocacy and business development firm. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. This acquisition brings Yes& to 80 employees total.

GreenSmith PR employees will now be a part of Yes&’s content team, according to a press release. Mike Smith, a local advertising veteran with more than 35 years of experience leading marketing agencies, has joined Yes& as its senior VP and president of the GreenSmith PR division of the firm. Smith formerly led GreenSmith PR as CEO.

“This is a really great fit for us and for our clients,” Robert W. Sprague, president and CEO of Yes&, said in a statement. “As we build our Paid, Earned, Search and Owned (PESO) Media offerings, Mike’s leadership in media relations and connections on Capitol Hill will be invaluable to our team.”

Companies: EverFi / CoStar Group

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