Pluralsight Seeks to Address Growing Cloud Skills Gap With A Cloud Guru Acquisition
Pluralsight, Inc., a technology workforce development company, has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire A Cloud Guru (ACG), an Australia-based cloud skills development platform for $2 billion, making it one of the largest deals ever for an Australian tech company. The acquisition is expected to close later this year, subject to customary closing conditions and follows Vista Equity Partners' recent acquisition of Pluralsight.
"Technology is the number one differentiator for all businesses and the technology skills of your team is what determines success or failure. Nowhere is that more apparent than with cloud technologies," said Aaron Skonnard, Co-founder and CEO of Pluralsight in a press statement. "To meet the needs of our customers and best support their cloud transformations, we are determined to deliver the most comprehensive solution for driving cloud maturity at scale. With the acquisition of A Cloud Guru, we can now provide an all-in-one solution to accelerate the cloud skill development journey for large enterprise customers and individual learners."
According to The Australian Financial Review, ever since Sam and Ryan Kroonenburg founded A Cloud Guru in 2015, it has been one of the most closely watched Australian start-ups in recent years, with a mainly U.S. and overseas customer base for its online cloud computing training programs.
By combining A Cloud Guru's library of certification courses, hands-on labs and sandboxes, exams and quizzes with the existing library of Pluralsight Skills cloud courses and hands-on learning experiences, the joint organization will now be better positioned to meet the market demand for cloud skill development.
Learning Opportunities
"ACG and Pluralsight were founded to solve the same problem — closing the technology skills gap by democratizing access to technical education. Within our shared missions, we've taken different but complementary approaches. Both approaches have proven to resonate strongly with customers who want depth and breadth in tech education," Sam Kroonenburg, Co-founder and CEO, A Cloud Guru in a press statement. "I am excited by the next phase of our mission in which, together, we will build the next-generation platform for hands-on learning across all of technology."
William Blair & Company, LLC acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Pluralsight and Vista in the transaction, with Kirkland & Ellis LLP serving as legal counsel. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC served as the exclusive financial advisor to A Cloud Guru and Latham & Watkins LLP served as legal counsel.
Have a tip to share with our editorial team? Drop us a line:
About the Author
Stephanie is a freelance news writer and communications professional, holding a Bachelor’s degree from DePaul University. Her background includes over a decade of work experience across the spectrum of media relations, social media, marketing communications, customer communications, feature writing and newspaper/online editing, content entry, copywriting and copy editing.
Featured Research
Research Report
Read Now
eBook
Read Now
Guide
Read Now
Guide
Read Now
Research Report
Read Now
Buyer's Guide
Read Now
Infographic
Read Now
White Paper
Read Now
Related Stories
Smarter Experiences Win — Learn from Today's Leaders
