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NEW YORK, Sept. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- LRN, a partner company of Leeds Equity Partners, yesterday announced the acquisition of Interactive Services ("Interactive"), a Dublin, Ireland-based provider of global compliance and online learning solutions.  The combined organization will help more companies build and implement effective compliance programs and foster values-based and ethical cultures and workforces at a time when those imperatives are more urgent than ever.  Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. 

The strategic combination accelerates several important business initiatives including adding to the resources of the combined company, broadening its go to market capabilities and geographic footprint and enhancing the value it can provide to its customers through more custom solutions, additional analytics and a broader and deeper library of content.  The combined company's comprehensive ethics and compliance offering which includes education, technology, advisory services and analytics enables organizations to successfully navigate the complex legal, compliance, regulatory, and operating environments across the globe.

"We are in a time of increasing focus and scrutiny on corporate and individual conduct and an intensifying awareness of societal inequalities," said Dov Seidman, LRN Founder and Chairman.  "In response, companies throughout the world are urgently reimagining the workplace, redefining leadership and seeking to build cultures that are genuinely aligned and inclusive.  This, in turn, requires meaningful education, communication, codes of conduct, adaptive learning environments and other tools that inspire employees, put ethics and compliance at the heart of corporate operations, and guide the right kind of principled and profitable behavior.  As expectations of companies and their leaders rise from society and employees alike, the winners will be those who most effectively operationalize the understanding that values drive behavior and behavior drives performance," Seidman added.

"LRN has for more than 25 years helped define and shape the ethics and compliance space.  Given Interactive's long commitment to improving talent and performance in the workplace through creative design, we are extremely excited to be joining LRN, and to embrace LRN's mission of inspiring principled performance and add to LRN's deep array of offerings – and we believe the business world, and society, will be the better for it," said Matt Plass, CEO of Interactive Services.

Jeffrey T. Leeds, Managing Partner at Leeds Equity, added: "Strong leaders recognize that compliance with rules and regulations is about far more than "checking the box." An authentic commitment to the highest standards in ethics and compliance not only reduces risk — which can increasingly be catastrophic — but also creates a better workplace which leads, in turn, to better work.   With this acquisition of Interactive Services, LRN enhances its stature as the leading provider of the most effective ethics and compliance education and learning resources for companies throughout the world."

 "As part of a significant investment in LRN in 2018 by Leeds Equity Partners, LRN and Leeds committed to expanding LRN's reach and scale to help more companies elevate behavior, reduce risks and create sustainable competitive advantages.  The acquisition of Interactive is an exciting next part of LRN's long-term strategic plan which accelerates the combined company's investments in people, innovation and technology and positions it for continuing accelerated growth," said Jacques Galante, Partner at Leeds Equity.

Latham and Watkins and Arthur Cox served as legal counsel to LRN Corporation.  GCA Advisors served as financial advisor and ByrneWallace served as legal counsel to Interactive Services. 

About LRN Corporation:
LRN's mission is to inspire principled performance. Since 1994, LRN has helped over 25 million people at more than 700 companies worldwide simultaneously navigate complex legal and regulatory environments and make ethical decisions, and has also helped hundreds of companies foster ethical, responsible, and inclusive cultures. LRN's combination of practical tools, education, and strategic advice helps companies translate their values into concrete corporate practices and leadership behaviors that create sustainable competitive advantage. In partnership with LRN, companies need not choose between living principles and maximizing profits, or between enhancing reputation and growing revenue: all are a product of principled performance. As a global company, LRN works with organizations in more than 100 countries.

For additional information on LRN, see http://www.lrn.com/

About Interactive Services:
Interactive Services, based in Dublin, Ireland, has been inspiring organizations to act with integrity for over 25 years, providing award-winning learning solutions to some of the biggest brands in the world. Alongside the fastest growing E&C content library solution in the marketplace, Interactive Services also offers creative custom online and person-to-person learning design, delivering over 300 unique projects to clients in 40+ countries, reaching 3+ million learners, every year.

For additional information on Interactive Services, see http://www.interactiveservices.com/

About Leeds Equity Partners: 
Leeds Equity Partners is a New York-based private equity firm dedicated exclusively to partnering with management teams in the education, training and information services industries (the "Knowledge Industries"). The firm was founded in 1993 and has managed approximately $2.5 billion of capital across a broad spectrum of companies within the Knowledge Industries.  Leeds Equity seeks to leverage its sector-focused expertise and market insights to create long-term value for its partner companies.

For additional information on Leeds Equity Partners, see http://www.leedsequity.com/

For More Information:
Jeffrey T. Leeds
Tel. 212-835-2000
Fax: 212-835-2020
www.leedsequity.com