Nelson finalizes strategic divestiture and its withdrawal from higher education

TORONTO, July 8, 2020 /CNW/ - Nelson, Canada's leading educational publisher, announces it has finalized the transactions to divest its higher education business. Nelson will now focus solely on the K-12 education market locally and globally.

As part of these transactions, Top Hat is acquiring a significant portion of Nelson's post-secondary business, and bringing it into their powerful active learning platform.

Nelson's retraction from higher education also comes with the termination of their long-standing sales-distribution agreement with Cengage. Moving forward, Cengage will operate directly in Canada through their newly established Canadian division.

To support the needs of the upcoming school year and beyond, Nelson is committed to work with Cengage, Top Hat, and its other post secondary partners to provide Canadian customers continued access to the products currently distributed by Nelson. With both divestitures, post-secondary institutions will be able to benefit from uninterrupted warehouse ordering and a dedicated office presence to ensure a smooth transition.

"We thank instructors and faculty for partnering with us over the last century. As post-secondary institutions and bookstores prepare for the upcoming school year, we will continue to work closely with our publishing partners during this transformative time" says Steve Brown, Chief Executive Officer.

As the education landscape continues to shift, Nelson recognizes that K-12 and higher education are moving at different speeds. Each requires a core focus to ensure students and educators receive the right solutions to enable learning success.

In May 2020, Nelson announced its strategic decision to focus solely on K-12 education and technology centered on Edwin, its digital learning ecosystem that drives student engagement and outcomes. Since 2017, Nelson has disrupted the K-12 landscape in Canada and around the world with the launch of Edwin.

CIBC Capital Markets acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Nelson with respect to the sale of its Canadian domestic higher education textbook business to Top Hat.

About Nelson

Nelson is Canada's leading educational publisher. Nelson believes in the evolution of life-long education and dedicates its business efforts to the creation of quality, innovative solutions that support the needs of every student and educator to empower learning success.

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To learn more about Edwin visit: edwin.nelson.com

SOURCE NELSON

Stephanie Gomez, Director Marketing Services and Corporate Communications, [email protected] / 647.888.3058