America-based leading provider of educational and career services Kaplan Inc. acquired Kidum Group Ltd., Israel’s leading provider of test preparation services. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Financial advisor in the deal was SORTIS’s partner in the Globalscope M&A Advisors network, Portofino Investments – a financial advisory firm based in Israel focusing solely on investment banking services including mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and restructurings, as well as equity or debt raising through either the public or the private markets.
Kidum Group provides high school exit and university admissions exams, English language study programs and preparation courses. The company was among the first in Israel’s test preparation market and now has presence in 48 centers across the country. The company works through four subsidiaries – Kidum Test Prep, Lachman Test Prep, Publishing House and Wall Street Institute School of English, for the four key markets Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Beersheba, and Haifa. Commenting the acquisition, Shai Reshef, Chairman of the Kidum Group, stated “It is rare to find a company which is operating in the same market and is so similar in its attitude toward its employees and students. Kaplan will enable Kidum to maintain and develop its unique assets.”
Kaplan is a US-based provider of educational and test prep services for individuals, schools, and businesses, which operates in over 30 countries and maintains relationships and partnerships with more than 1,000 school districts, colleges and universities. The company is part of Graham Holdings, formerly The Washington Post Company, a diversified education, and media company whose principal operations include educational services, television broadcasting, and online, print, and local TV news. Kaplan offers test preparation and admission prep services, including K12 services for schools, after-school learning programs for children and postsecondary certificate and degree programs. Kaplan also provides prep materials for professional exams in the fields of Insurance, Finance and Accountancy, Architecture, Real Estate and IT. With the acquisition of Kidum, Kaplan continues to expand its scope of services worldwide as the company has recently acquired additional businesses in Europe and Asia, including The Financial Training Company, a leading provider of test preparation services for accounting and financial service professionals in the UK.
