ICS Learn
ICS pioneered distance learning to democratise education and has since educated over 13 million people with over 150 flexible courses.
The opportunity: When Par Equity first invested, ICS Learn was a loss-making, distressed business which the previous owner, a German education trust, was looking to quickly offload or put into administration. Par Equity saw an opportunity to restructure a business with excellent brand value, save jobs, and digitise the offering into higher growth segments.
The outcome: Following Par Equity’s investment, Paul Munn (Par Equity Partner) stepped into the Company as the interim CEO for a couple of months. We added to the board with 3 further appointments from its Investor Network, and quickly froze the excessive and ineffective marketing spend to shore up the business. A new CEO was appointed in early 2013 (replaced in 2016) and Par helped the business to rationalise the product suite, digitise the offering and develop ICS’s digital marketing. ICS was sold for £29m in May 2018 in a Management Buyout backed by Primary Capital.
What they said: Colin Kennedy, CEO of ICS Learn, commented, “ICS Learn is a well-recognised brand, providing online professional training in growing end markets. I am excited about the business’s future and the opportunities we have in both existing and new qualifications. We will continue to drive growth in student numbers whilst retaining our student-centric service ethos.”