Barnes & Noble Education continues to diversify its businesses in the college market after reaching an agreement Friday to acquire Student Brands for $58.5 million in cash.
Student Brands is an educational technology company that operates a number of direct-to-student businesses all aimed at helping students to improve their writing. “The lack of writing proficiency is one of the most significant challenges in our education system, and Student Brands provides a significant opportunity to serve this market with solutions that improve student performance,” said Kanuj Malhotra, COO of digital education at B&NE, about the reason for the purchase.
The company, which operates sites such as 123HelpMe.com, Bartleby.com, and StudyMode.com in the U.S., as well as other sites abroad, has over 20 million unique monthly users, B&NE said. Student Brands generates revenue through both its subscription services and advertising.
The Student Brands purchase follows by five months B&NE’s acquisition of MBS Textbook Exchange for $174 million.
