Draper, UT (USA), June 2021 - Pluralsight, Inc., a technology workforce development company, has announced its entry into a definitive agreement to acquire A Cloud Guru (ACG), a leading cloud skills development platform. The acquisition is expected to close later this year, subject to customary closing conditions, and follows Vista Equity Partners' recent acquisition of Pluralsight.
"Technology is the number one differentiator for all businesses, and the technology skills of your team are what determine success or failure. Nowhere is that more apparent than with cloud technologies," said Aaron Skonnard, co-founder and CEO of Pluralsight. "To meet the needs of our customers and best support their cloud transformations, we are determined to deliver the most comprehensive solution for driving cloud maturity at scale. With the acquisition of A Cloud Guru, we can now provide an all-in-one solution to accelerate the cloud-skill-development journey for large enterprise customers and individual learners."
Cloud computing continues to experience massive growth for large enterprises around the world, increasing the need for cloud skill development to keep pace. In fact, research shows that the vast majority of IT decision makers believe that the shortage of cloud skills is their number one challenge. By combining the power of A Cloud Guru's leading certification courses; hands-on labs and sandboxes; exams, and quizzes with the existing library of Pluralsight Skills cloud courses and hands-on learning experiences, the joint organization will now be better positioned to meet the market demand for cloud skill development.
"ACG and Pluralsight were founded to solve the same problem: closing the technology-skills gap by democratizing access to technical education. Within our shared missions, we've taken different but complementary approaches. Both approaches have proven to resonate strongly with customers who want depth and breadth in tech education," explained Sam Kroonenburg, Co-founder and CEO, A Cloud Guru. "I am excited by the next phase of our mission in which, together, we will build the next-generation platform for hands-on learning across all of technology."
William Blair & Company, LLC acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Pluralsight and Vista in the transaction, with Kirkland & Ellis LLP serving as legal counsel. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC served as the exclusive financial advisor to A Cloud Guru and Latham & Watkins LLP served as legal counsel.
