learndirect completes bolt-on acquisitions of ACD and i-to-i

Queen’s Park Equity (“QPE”) is proud to announce that learndirect has completed the acquisitions of Animal Courses Direct (“ACD”) and i-to-i (TATG Ltd), two specialist training providers operating in the Animal Welfare and Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) sectors respectively. The acquisitions extend learndirect’s existing portfolio in these sectors and provides a strong base for the group to continue to grow online education in these specialisms.

ACD is the largest specialist Animal Welfare provider in the UK offering a wide range of Ofqual regulated animal courses that meet the Defra Animal Activity Licencing (ALL) Regulations. Through its dedicated recruitment site (Animal Jobs Direct) they are able to equip learners for a wide range of animal, conservation and environmental careers.

i-to-i has over 25 years’ experience of offering TEFL courses. Having already trained more than 200,000 TEFL teachers across the globe, i-to-i supports its graduates into employment internationally through its excellent Love TEFL Jobs Board.

Wayne Janse Van Rensburg, Group CEO at learndirect, said, "The importance of high-quality outcome based online education has never been more important than now. The Covid pandemic has fundamentally changed the way our students want to learn. Working with QPE, we are excited to be backing both Kim at ACD, Gordon at i-to-i and their fantastic teams, bringing our businesses together with a shared vision and mission to deliver an exceptional progression plan for the group. Combining our expertise and experience will enable us to deliver market leading employment-based outcomes for our students.”

Jose Rodriguez, Managing Partner, added, “We are delighted to have partnered with Wayne and the management team at learndirect in this exciting journey and supported two strategic acquisitions within six months of our original investment in the Group. Both ACD and i-to-i share QPE and learndirect’s values of quality education and learner-focused outcomes”.

learndirect was the first platform investment from Queen’s Park Equity Fund I, which was oversubscribed and closed at its hard cap of £202m in December 2020. QPE is focused on providing capital and expertise to high-quality businesses with an ambition to accelerate their growth across the Education, Health & Pharma and Tech Services sectors.

Further information can be found at www.qpequity.com and www.learndirect.com