(Bloomberg) — Anthology Inc., the Veritas Capital-backed education-software provider, sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US after a failed attempt to sell the company or parts of the business outside of court protection.
The company filed for Chapter 11 in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, according to a company statement on Tuesday. It listed assets and liabilities of $1 billion to $10 billion each in its petition, court documents show.
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Anthology combined with Blackboard Inc., an education-technology provider backed by Providence Equity Partners, in 2021, at a time when remote education and the technology that powered it were in focus because of the Covid-19 pandemic. More recently, the company has seen a decline in new bookings and higher than expected customer attrition, Moody’s Ratings analysts wrote in a report in April.
The debt that financed that acquisition, which included about $1.8 billion in term loans and a $140 million credit facility, became unmanageable for the company as the business flailed and the Federal Reserve raised interest rates.
Anthology will sell its Enterprise Operations, Lifecycle Engagement, and Student Success businesses, the firm said in the statement. Ellucian Company LLC is the stalking horse bidder for the Enterprise Operations business including Anthology Student, Finance & HCM, Student Verification, and Enterprise Ops Legacy. Encoura, LLC is the stalking horse bidder for the Lifecycle Engagement business, including Anthology Encompass, Reach, Engage, Advance, and the Student Success business, it added.
Software companies — long favored by private equity for their reliable cash flows and stable businesses — have recently been struggling and often collapsing under the weight of debt used to fund their dealmaking. Higher interest rates drove up the cost of their debt at the same time that the transition to artificial intelligence undermined many legacy tech firms’ business models.
–With assistance from Janine Panzer and Alice Huang.
(Updates with listed assets and liabilities.)
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©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
(Bloomberg) — Anthology Inc., the Veritas Capital-backed education-software provider, sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US after a failed attempt to sell the company or parts of the business outside of court protection.
The company filed for Chapter 11 in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, according to a company statement on Tuesday. It listed assets and liabilities of $1 billion to $10 billion each in its petition, court documents show.
Most Read from Bloomberg
Anthology combined with Blackboard Inc., an education-technology provider backed by Providence Equity Partners, in 2021, at a time when remote education and the technology that powered it were in focus because of the Covid-19 pandemic. More recently, the company has seen a decline in new bookings and higher than expected customer attrition, Moody’s Ratings analysts wrote in a report in April.
The debt that financed that acquisition, which included about $1.8 billion in term loans and a $140 million credit facility, became unmanageable for the company as the business flailed and the Federal Reserve raised interest rates.
Anthology will sell its Enterprise Operations, Lifecycle Engagement, and Student Success businesses, the firm said in the statement. Ellucian Company LLC is the stalking horse bidder for the Enterprise Operations business including Anthology Student, Finance & HCM, Student Verification, and Enterprise Ops Legacy. Encoura, LLC is the stalking horse bidder for the Lifecycle Engagement business, including Anthology Encompass, Reach, Engage, Advance, and the Student Success business, it added.
Software companies — long favored by private equity for their reliable cash flows and stable businesses — have recently been struggling and often collapsing under the weight of debt used to fund their dealmaking. Higher interest rates drove up the cost of their debt at the same time that the transition to artificial intelligence undermined many legacy tech firms’ business models.
–With assistance from Janine Panzer and Alice Huang.
(Updates with listed assets and liabilities.)
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©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
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