How M&A Strategy Evolves in Education Technology
Online education isn’t new—Kaplan was already operating at massive scale in 2010 with more than 75,000 online higher-ed students.
What you’ll learn
Who is this course for
This course is for corporate development professionals and in-house dealmakers who operate in fast-moving or heavily hyped markets and need to maintain investment discipline when internal pressure and external competition push valuations beyond what the fundamentals support. It is especially relevant for practitioners at companies with multiple business units, where aligning a broad leadership team around a shared acquisition philosophy is as much of a challenge as finding the right target.
Instructor
Tom Horton is Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Strategy at Kaplan, where he leads a three-person team overseeing M&A, equity investments, and strategic planning across Kaplan's global education portfolio. Over eight years at Kaplan, he has operated within a Graham Holdings investment framework shaped by Warren Buffett's influence, guiding a program that spans 120 acquisitions and nearly $2 billion in deployed capital since 1996.
Badges
Have any questions?
The Intelligence Hub is where M&A practitioners access Buyer-Led M&A™ playbooks, frameworks, templates, and real-world insights from experienced deal leaders. Courses are taught by practitioners who've run deals — not academics or advisors. Topics include integration planning, due diligence, deal sourcing, valuation, and more.
The Intelligence Hub is available 24/7 through your M&A Science membership. Access them on-demand at your pace, on any device.
It depends on where you are in your M&A journey. If you're building foundational knowledge, start with the M&A Fundamentals Track — five courses covering the full deal lifecycle from sourcing through integration. If you're already running deals and want to build a repeatable, scalable process, explore the Buyer-Led M&A™ Certification. New courses are added regularly as we deepen the curriculum.
