California-based edtech Chegg has entered an agreement to acquire London-headquartered language learning platform Busuu for €385m (£328m).
The all-cash transaction acquisition has been approved by the boards of both Busuu and Chegg and will close in the first quarter of 2022.
The deal will bolster Chegg’s language offering, which pairs learners with native speakers to practice and provides interactive courses.
It will see the US firm scoop up Busuu’s 120 million users and over 500,000 paying subscribers from around the world.
Chegg currently has six million customers, who will gain access to Busuu’s services post-acquisition.
“The addition of Busuu gives Chegg the unique opportunity to expand our business while also adding tremendous value to our existing users,” said Dan Rosensweig, president and CEO of Chegg. “It will allow us to drive further into international markets, as well as accelerate Busuu’s growth in the US market. Busuu’s team, who we have known for many years, are a great cultural fit. They have built an incredible learning service for the serious language learner, and we are excited to have them as part of Chegg.”
“Content-rich” edtech platform
Busuu was founded in 2008 by Bernhard Niesner and Adrian Hilti in Madrid. It has since expanded globally and moved its headquarters to London in 2012. Now, it has offices in London and Madrid. Busuu is a “content-rich” education platform designed for those who want to learn a new language.
It is used by individuals across a broad age range, both in and out of formal education, and also provides corporate language training to hundreds of organisations. Its approach combines self-paced courses developed by an in-house team of language experts, with instant feedback from a global community of native speakers.
Last year, Busuu added live language tutoring, offering live group lessons and one-to-one sessions with language teachers.
Bernhard Niesner, CEO & Co-founder of Busuu, said: “We are proud and excited to be joining the Chegg family, a world leading edtech company that puts students first. This partnership will give us an opportunity to leverage Chegg’s tremendous reach to fuel our expansion, particularly in the US. Our vision is to empower everyone in the world through languages, and we believe our relationship with Chegg will enable us to achieve this goal even faster.”
The post Chegg buys London-based language learning platform Busuu for €385m appeared first on UKTN (UK Tech News).
