The purchase represents a further investment in NELSON’s comprehensive offering aimed at meeting the individual needs of educators and students across the country by providing effective and innovative educational learning solutions. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.
The strategic acquisition will see NELSON taking on all development, production, sales, distribution and marketing of the McGraw-Hill Ryerson K-12 portfolio in Canada, including the publishing and distribution of educational materials in both print and digital formats.
“At NELSON, we are constantly evolving to drive change by innovating and expanding our offerings to meet the needs of our Canadian teachers and students now and into the future,” explained Steve Brown, NELSON President and CEO. “As the only remaining all-Canadian-operated educational publisher and leading content provider in the K-12 classroom, the addition of the McGraw-Hill Ryerson portfolio enables us to pursue our commitment to providing the best possible educational resources and content across the nation.”
Added product offerings include textbooks, online resources, study tools, assessment, professional development support and monitoring solutions. The deal encompasses McGraw-Hill Ryerson’s K-12 subjects in Mathematics and Science, English, Fine Arts, Music, Social Sciences and Technology.
“Over the past several years, McGraw-Hill Ryerson has established a quality portfolio of K-12 educational materials in the Canadian marketplace,” said Aaron Yaverski, Manager Director, Americas, McGraw-Hill. “Under this agreement, we are confident that NELSON will continue to develop and evolve our trusted learning resources to further serve K-12 schools in Canada. Looking ahead for McGraw-Hill, we will continue to seek long-term growth opportunities in Canada by focusing our resources and investments on offering innovative new products and services in the higher education market.”
Over the course of the next few months, the two organizations will work to transition the business and determine operational efficiencies that enable NELSON to provide a seamless delivery of enhanced educational resources to Canadian classrooms.
“Over our 103 years in business we have earned a strong degree of confidence from Canadian teachers and students at all stages within the educational journey,” stated Brown. “We have a vision to grow and evolve our contribution to the education industry to help drive and strengthen the changing user experience.”
“It is through acquisitions of quality products like these and the building of solid innovative partnerships with organizations like Microsoft, Dreambox and others, that NELSON ensures the students of today have the unparalleled access to the educational resources they need, to become the vibrant adults of tomorrow.”
This acquisition is subject to the satisfaction of the requirements of the Investment Canada Act.