Skillsoft Corp. (NYSE: SKIL) (“Skillsoft” or the “Company”), a global leader in corporate digital learning, announced that its common stock will commence trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol “SKIL” 14 June at the market open. This follows the completion of Software Luxembourg Holding S.A.’s merger with Churchill Capital Corp II and combination with Global Knowledge Training LLC (“Global Knowledge”) on June 11, 2021, with the combined company now operating as Skillsoft.
Skillsoft is moving forward as one of the industry’s largest and most profitable digital learning companies, focused on helping organisations build a future-fit workforce, skilled and ready for the jobs of tomorrow. The Company serves a blue-chip enterprise customer base that includes approximately 70% of the Fortune 1000, customers in over 160 countries and more than 45 million learners globally. The Company’s solutions are an advantage for the entire enterprise, enabling organisations to overcome critical skill gaps and drive demonstrable behaviour-change while generating ROI at scale. Skillsoft operates with an attractive business model, characterised by recurring revenue, strong free cash flow conversion, high operating leverage and low capital requirements. With a global salesforce and footprint, and a strong, deleveraged balance sheet, Skillsoft is well-positioned to drive growth and value creation both organically and through acquisitions in the rapidly growing digital learning industry.
Jeffery R. Tarr, Skillsoft’s Chief Executive Officer, said, “As the new Skillsoft, we will further build on our enterprise learning solutions to help companies prepare for the future of work. Together with Global Knowledge, we will serve our customers with unmatched learning technologies and the industry’s most comprehensive suite of premium and original content – including the deepest library of technology & developer curricula – delivered on an open learning platform. With an unparalleled global reach and the financial flexibility to drive sustained organic and acquired growth, we see tremendous opportunities to expand our capabilities, solidify our leadership position and create value for our shareowners, customers, learners, team members and other stakeholders.”
Skillsoft’s capabilities span next-generation, on-demand, virtual and instructor-led training, offering a blended learning model that dramatically increases learner engagement and retention and drives the mastery of new skills. As a result of its combination with Global Knowledge, Skillsoft has authorised content from and training partnerships with some of the world’s most iconic technology brands, including Amazon Web Services, Cisco, Google, IBM, ITIL, Microsoft, Red Hat and VMware, among others. The Company’s agile solutions drive business impact, demonstrable behaviour-change and organisational productivity, supported by a 20-year track record of generating ROI at scale.
Michael S. Klein, Skillsoft Board Director and Chairman and CEO of Churchill Capital Corp II, said, “The combination of Skillsoft and Global Knowledge not only provides compelling opportunities to cross-sell, upsell, and enhance customer retention, but also creates a powerful platform to drive consolidation in a rapidly growing and highly fragmented industry with a total addressable market of $28 billion. We are proud to support Skillsoft’s transition into a public company and look forward to watching its continued evolution as it capitalises on strong secular growth drivers and executes on a value-enhancing M&A strategy.”
Prosus N.V. (“Prosus”), a global consumer internet group and one of the largest technology investors in the world, invested $500 million in Skillsoft through a strategic equity investment.
Patrick Kolek, Skillsoft’s newly appointed Board Chairperson and Chief Operating Officer of Prosus, said, “Skillsoft is well-positioned to transform corporate digital learning on a global scale at a time when companies are focused on aligning development opportunities in flexible and individual ways. We are excited that the new Skillsoft is official, and we’re looking forward to building the future of the Company.”
World-Class Leadership Team and Board of Directors
In addition to Mr. Tarr, Skillsoft is led by a world-class executive team with deep expertise in software, business development, and finance. As previously announced, this includes Michelle Boockoff-Bajdek, Chief Marketing Officer; Sarah Hilty, Chief Legal Officer; Ryan Murray, Chief Accounting Officer and interim Chief Financial Officer; Mark Onisk, Chief Content Officer; Apratim Purakayastha, Chief Technology Officer; Eric Stine, Chief Revenue Officer; and Richard Walker, Chief Corporate Strategy and Development Officer and President, SumTotal.
Skillsoft’s Board comprises nine members who bring decades of industry experience across education, digital learning, the B2B and B2C sectors, strategic planning, marketing, retail, finance, capital markets and M&A. Along with Messrs. Hovsepian, Klein, Kolek and Tarr, this includes Helena B. Foulkes, Larry Illg, Karen G. Mills, Peter Schmitt and Lawrence H. Summers.
