In a recent announcement, SAP and Francisco Partners (FP) stated that FP has signed a definitive agreement (DA) with SAP America Inc. Under the terms of the agreement, Francisco Partners will acquire SAP Litmos, an industry leader in the eLearning solutions industry.
SAP is always looking for ways to improve its solutions portfolio in order to keep customers successful. This includes making sure that the German enterprise software giant’s resources and investments are being used optimally to promote growth and innovation. For example, SAP Litmos Training solutions provide businesses with the tools they need to deliver SME-tested and current product and service knowledge courses designed to improve sales and service skills, as well as leadership and management capabilities.
Although it has built a strong learning management system (LMS) and eLearning content library over the years, much of what Litmos offers overlaps with existing solutions from SAP. This has created challenges for Litmos in terms of differentiating its offerings and value proposition in the marketplace.
This month, SAP revealed that it has reached an agreement to sell the Litmos business to Francisco Partners, a leading global technology investment firm. This transition will allow Litmos to operate as an independent company going forward. It is also expected that the new arrangement will provide the best possible outcome for all parties involved.
According to SAP SuccessFactors President and Chief Product Officer Meg Bear, SAP’s mission is to enable every enterprise to become intelligent, networked, and sustainable by combining data, technology, and best practices. She went on to explain that SAP’s ongoing assessment of its portfolio throughout the entire company came up with the conclusion that the SAP SuccessFactors Learning solution and the SAP Litmos solutions have value propositions and functions that are similar to one another.
Commenting on the sale of Litmos to Francisco Partners, Bear further said:
“We are confident that the best opportunity for Litmos to provide growth and innovation for its customers, employees and business is to operate as a stand-alone company. Francisco Partners will be able to provide Litmos the necessary investment, focus and experience to continue to realize its ongoing growth.”
The current Litmos leadership team will continue to serve existing customers in similar roles within the new stand-alone company. This includes corporations, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and technology partners.
Signing a Definitive Agreement with SAP America Inc.
SAP Litmos is a world leader in providing LMS solutions and comprehensive course libraries. SAP Litmos Training helps organizations of all sizes to train their employees effectively and efficiently, with content that is both engaging and relevant. The company has been established since 2007 and offers clients a wealth of experience and expertise in the field of learning management.
On the other hand, Francisco Partners is one of the most active and longest-standing investors in the technology industry, having invested in more than 400 companies since it launched over 20 years ago. This level of experience and commitment has allowed the company to become a leading figure in the tech investment space.
As a leading private equity firm with a strong focus on the education and human capital technology markets, Francisco Partners has a deep understanding of the needs of its customers, partners and managers, and has made investments in companies that provide the best possible products and services to meet those needs.
In addition to partnering with corporations, Francisco Partners also has experience executing divisional carve-outs. This includes transactions such as IBM’s Watson Health business (now Merative) and Discovery Inc.’s Discovery Education business.
Thrilled to be forming a partnership with Litmos in order to fully realize its growth potential and provide even more to both its customers and partners, Jason Brein and Christine Wang, Partners at Francisco Partners, said in a statement:
“As an independent company partnering with FP, Litmos will have more flexibility to focus all of its investments and operations on customer success and increase its customer happiness by augmenting platform capabilities, proprietary content library and third-party integrations.”
