Private equity giant TPG has inked a deal to acquire a majority stake in a teacher certification company from Southlake-based Gauge Capital through its impact investing platform.
TPG, co-headquartered in Fort Worth and San Francisco, announced Thursday that it signed an agreement to invest in Teachers of Tomorrow, a nationwide teacher alternative certification program that provides training and other services. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
Phillip Braithwaite, CEO of Teachers of Tomorrow, said he hopes to build the platform across the country.
“Teachers of Tomorrow is a natural fit for The Rise Fund’s mission to drive measurable social impact at scale,” said Steve Ellis, co-managing partner of The Rise Fund, in a prepared statement. “We are excited to back Phillip’s vision to accelerate growth both geographically and across product lines to provide training and support throughout the entire lifecycle of a teacher’s career.”
Gauge Capital, a locally based $2-billion-asset firm, added Teachers of Tomorrow to its portfolio in 2015 through a recapitalization, in partnership with the company’s founder and president. After Gauge’s investment, Teachers of Tomorrow expanded from solely offering services in Texas to nine states over the past five years, with plans to continue market expansion.
Free Webinar: Private Investments in Space: Is Now the Right Time?
- How can PE get involved with the space economy that is estimated to hit $1 trillion by 2040?
- What is the risk profile with space investments?
- What did limited partners learn from the internet evolution that can be utilized when investing in space?
This marks Gauge’s first announced exit of the year, following several platform investments and a new $800 million fund close.
“We have enjoyed our partnership with Teachers of Tomorrow and are pleased with the increased impact the company has had on the markets we serve. We selected The Rise Fund as the right future partner of the business based on their combination of education experience and overall mission,” said Gauge Co-Founder and Managing Partner Tom McKelvey in a prepared statement.
Teachers of Tomorrow provides training, certification and placement for individuals with four-year bachelor’s degrees. Alternative teaching certification provides a lower-cost method for training.
John Rogers, partner and education sector lead at The Rise Fund said digitally-enabled certification and training is key to the platform. He added school districts told TPG that they would hire more candidates from Teacher of Tomorrow if it was scaled.
Teachers of Tomorrow joins a number of other education companies in The Rise Funds’ portfolio, including DreamBox Learning, Renaissance Learning, EverFi and InStride — all of which combine education strategy and technology.
Gauge Capital was advised by RW Baird and Ropes & Gray LLP. The Rise Fund was advised by Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Hogan Lovells LLP.
TPG is also branching its impact platform into other more specialized sectors. In July, TPG announced it had raised $5.4 billion for its new climate-related fund, TPG Rise Climate, which it expects to close later this year at a $7 billion hard cap. The fund will be used to invest in 20 to 30 companies with environment-focused missions.
The Rise Fund platform, founded in 2016 by TPG in partnership with Bono and Jeff Skoll, invests in growth-stage, mission-driven companies. The platform has more than $11 billion in assets across The Rise Funds, TPG Rise Climate and Evercare Health Fund.
Source: Biz Journals
Can’t stop reading? Read more
Blackstone boosts hospitality portfolio with $200m Sunseeker Resort deal
Blackstone boosts hospitality portfolio with $200m Sunseeker Resort deal Blackstone Real Estate...
Apollo appoints Brian Chu to lead operational value creation platform APPS
Apollo appoints Brian Chu to lead operational value creation platform APPS Apollo Global...
TDR Capital eyes £2bn continuation deal for David Lloyd Leisure
TDR Capital eyes £2bn continuation deal for David Lloyd Leisure TDR Capital is nearing a £2bn...