TEAR DOWN THIS WALL: Macmillan will be combining its two divisions—Higher Education and New Ventures—into a single unit starting January 1, 2016.
The former group houses four publishers that produce print and digital instructional materials for a wide range of humanities and science subjects. Macmillan New Ventures was founded in 2012 to acquire promising education technology startups. The two groups will operate as a new brand, Macmillan Learning.
“We want to make sure that professors and students have access to the full portfolio of companies that we have been able to put together,” Ken Michaels, CEO of Macmillan Learning tells EdSurge.
The move is also an effort to remove some of the “walled gardens” among Macmillan’s product lines, Michael adds. “We used to have different businesses aimed at the same disciplines and run as different groups.” Bringing together the Higher Education and New Ventures teams will “combine these solutions and eliminate some of the confusion and repetitiveness” for the benefit of its customers.
When Macmillan New Ventures first launched in 2012, it sought to build a portfolio of ten to 15 companies within a five-year period. So far there are seven. Does this mean further acquisitions on the way?
“We’re always going to look for more instruments to help learning,” Michaels coyly offered.
