Learning Co.

Three consumer software companies merged in 1994 became International softkey. Seeking an already strong market position by leveraging its vast distribution muscles to grow, they began an acquisition spree. Following the acquisition of several smaller companies in the first two years of successfully completed in 1996, a hostile takeover of The Learning Co. softkey took the name of his prey to his more well-known brand names to use. Within two years, had the “new” Learning Co. to be … Read more »

Three consumer software companies merged in 1994 became International softkey. Seeking an already strong market position by leveraging its vast distribution muscles to grow, they began an acquisition spree. Following the acquisition of several smaller companies in the first two years of successfully completed in 1996, a hostile takeover of The Learning Co. softkey took the name of his prey to his more well-known brand names to use. Within two years, had the “new” Learning Co. one of the leading players in the household, personal productivity, reference and education segments of the consumer software market. As the company integrates its acquisitions, but will continue to develop the industry. The Learning Co. ‘s management team has been increasingly concerned, as its market share slipped from 17% to 10%. They thought that more acquisitions would be required to stay on top of the multimedia software field. The company, however, was strapped with massive debt. There were some challenging years ahead.
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from
James Henderson
Source: Babson College
34 pages.
Release Date: 1 January 2000. Prod #: BAB050-PDF-ENG
Learning Co. HBR case solution