NEW YORK, Dec. 1, 2022 – CeriFi, a leading provider of professional education, has announced its acquisition of Checkpoint Learning and West LegalEdcenter from Thomson Reuters Corporation. This strategic move significantly broadens CeriFi’s offerings in professional licensing and continuing education across the critical sectors of accounting, tax, and law.
The acquisition of checkpoint learning and West LegalEdcenter marks CeriFi’s 13th and 14th acquisitions, respectively, under the backing of Leeds Equity Partners. CeriFi now partners with over 5,000 financial and legal employers and more than 200 higher education institutions. These collaborations have been instrumental in enabling over one million professionals and aspiring individuals to achieve essential professional licenses, enhance their expertise, and improve their practice within their respective fields. The financial terms of the transaction remain undisclosed.
Matthew Given, CEO of CeriFi, emphasized the strategic importance of these acquisitions, stating, “Checkpoint Learning and West LegalEdcenter are recognized as the gold standards in professional education. Their commitment to delivering high-value learning solutions, built upon deep subject matter expertise and exceptional service, makes them an ideal fit for CeriFi. This acquisition provides us with an unmatched suite of products designed to support professionals throughout their entire career journey.”
Jacques Galante, Partner at Leeds Equity Partners, highlighted the growth trajectory of CeriFi, “Our partnership with CeriFi has been focused on building a strategically driven professional education company that comprehensively addresses the lifelong learning needs of professionals in the financial services and legal sectors. The addition of Checkpoint Learning and West LegalEdcenter uniquely positions CeriFi to meet these education, training, and certification demands, while continuing to ensure the highest quality learning outcomes in the industry.”
Eric Geveda, Managing Director at Leeds Equity Partners, also commented on the partnership, “We are thrilled to welcome the teams from Checkpoint Learning and West LegalEdcenter. Their proven success in delivering crucial educational outcomes to both individual professionals and enterprise-level institutions is invaluable. As premier providers of continuing professional education, Checkpoint Learning and West LegalEdcenter are integral to our business and product strategy as we aim to expand our educational relationships with employers and professionals across the financial and legal markets that CeriFi effectively serves.”
Latham & Watkins LLP provided legal counsel to Leeds Equity Partners, while Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP served as legal counsel and KPMG Corporate Finance LLC acted as financial advisor to Thomson Reuters in this transaction.
About CeriFi
CeriFi is a leading diversified education, training, and certification provider dedicated to serving professionals in the financial services market. CeriFi’s extensive range of products is designed to deliver mission-critical results for individuals and professionals across various industries, including accounting, financial analysis, financial crime, financial planning, financial risk management, insurance, legal, securities licensing, and tax. With a portfolio of fourteen highly complementary companies, CeriFi continues to expand its reach and impact in professional education. These companies include Dalton Education, Money Education, Keir Financial Education, Pass Perfect, the CFP assets of LoneStar Financial Education, the Association of Certified Financial Crime Specialists, Bionic Turtle, CPMI, Fast Forward Academy, Spidell Publishing, MarkMeldrum.com, Solomon Exam Prep, Checkpoint Learning, and West LegalEdcenter. For more information about CeriFi, please visit http://www.cerifi.com/.
About Checkpoint Learning
Checkpoint Learning is a premier provider of continuing professional education solutions for tax and accounting professionals. It offers an extensive catalog of courses, along with essential tools and an advanced online learning platform, to support individuals and firms in managing their professional development effectively. For further details on Checkpoint Learning, please visit https://checkpointlearning.thomsonreuters.com/.
About West LegalEdcenter
West LegalEdcenter is a leading provider of continuing legal education solutions and services, catering to thousands of legal professionals. It maintains a vast library of on-demand educational content and knowledge spanning the legal spectrum, assisting professionals in meeting their continuing legal education requirements. For additional information on West LegalEdcenter, please visit https://westlegaledcenter.com/home/homepage.jsf.
About Leeds Equity Partners
Leeds Equity Partners, based in New York, is a private equity firm exclusively focused on partnering with management teams within the education, training, and information services sectors, collectively known as the “Knowledge Industries.” Founded in 1993, the firm currently manages over $4 billion of capital across a diverse range of companies in these sectors. Leeds Equity leverages its specialized sector expertise and market insights to generate long-term value for its partner companies and investors. For more information about Leeds Equity Partners, please visit http://www.leedsequity.com/.
For More Information:
Jacques Galante
Tel. 212-835-2000
Fax: 212-835-2020
www.leedsequity.com
SOURCE Leeds Equity Partners, LLC
