Pearson buys Fronter
The Bookseller and others report the acquisition by Pearson of Fronter. So now Pearson, one of the world's largest publishing business, with a market capitalisation of around $5bn, owns in Fronter, a highly regarded VLE supplier as well as eCollege, a US supplier of VLE services to (mainly US distance) education providers, which it acquired last year. Who should be worried about this? My guess is that the smaller suppliers of VLEs to schools in the UK will feel a bit threatened; and if Pearson decides to move in the direction of HE, then it definitely has the weight and international presence to give companies like Desire2Learn and Blackboard a run for their money.
Pearson has been acquiring assets directly related to distance ed, as your post further indicates. They will likely be a major player and I agree that several of the smaller VLE vendors will be most threatened. The last thing I want is for the textbook publishers to further insinuate themselves into our learning offerings, but I'm sure that they have the exact opposite view about that than I do.
Posted by: Barry Dahl | 15/12/2008 at 20:53
Must be good news.
1. European player in the market to act as bulwark against US suppliers.
2. Means that mergers and acquisitions are alive and kicking in e-learning - with Fronter sold on a very good multiple.
3. VLEs needs to and will consolidate, just as happened years ago with learning management systems in the commercial market. The education market is just a few years behind on all of this stuff.
Posted by: Donald Clark | 15/12/2008 at 22:54
A good move for Fronter, the ethos of a shared back end with five portals was never adopted by any other VLE that I have known. With the backing of Pearson, could become a major player in education. We always liked the idea from way back in the FERL conference days, but were also rather fond of moodle which has emerged as the major player, and not just because it is O/S.
Posted by: Dave Trevena | 22/12/2008 at 22:32