Chelsea’s co-owners, Clearlake Capital, have announced that DreamBox Learning will be acquired by one of their ventures, Discovery Education.
Discovery Education, a digital learning platform, will retain a minority position in the company while Dreambox’s present backers Elliot Investment Management L.P. and TPG’s The Rise Fund will retain a larger stake. The deal’s financial details have not been made public.
It comes after yet another eventful working summer for Chelsea’s new owners. Behdad Eghbali and Jose E. Feliciano, who created Clearlake, are the major players in a group that also includes Todd Boehly, the club’s chairman, and the American private investment company Eldridge Industries.
While Clearlake and Boehly’s traditional investment work continues to prosper—the company reported an impressive end to their second quarter earlier in 2023 with nine deals completed, including the standout exit of Archer for a reported fee of over £1.5 billion ($2 billion)—the football project has encountered some difficulties.
After appointing two managers in their first full season in charge and bringing the Blues to a 12th-place finish, Boehly-Clearlake is coming off the worst dollar-for-dollar Premier League season in league history. They followed that up with a historically large player sales plan throughout the summer, recovering over £270 million ($340 million), but spent over £300 million (378 million) for the third straight window.
It has so far not paid off either despite appointing former Tottenham and Paris Saint-Germain head coach Mauricio Pochettino as well as buying a set of some of the most talented young players on the planet. Chelsea have just one win from their opening four league games with two defeats.
It has seen pressure continue to grow on Boehly-Clearlake for their work in charge of the club.
The success of their American-based businesses is undeniable. In the last 15 years, Clearlake has experienced tremendous growth, and their investments have continued to prosper. Discovery Education Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Cowdrey remarked following the announcement of the most recent deal: “Discovery Education is delighted to add DreamBox Learning, a brand synonymous with excellent, research-based math and reading edtech solutions to our growing family of services.
DreamBox Learning’s solutions, which combine expertise in learning science with adaptable, powerful instructional strategies, can help students succeed no matter who they are or where they live. By granting our current network of partner school systems access to DreamBox Learning’s selection of additional math, reading, and professional learning options, Discovery Education is better positioned to increase its effect on student performance.
Three additional purchases have been made by Discovery Education, most recently Pivot Iteractives, DoodleLearning, and Mystery Science from 2020. The transaction is anticipated to close in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Meanwhile attention for the owners will soon turn back to the football after a frantic deadline day at Stamford Bridge which saw Manchester City attacker Cole Palmer join for around £45million ($56m).