skill & you

Aticeo advised the Skill & You group (France) for its first investment abroad. Its acquisition of Ilerna Online (Spain) was sealed in early 2019. The objective: to create one of the most consolidated "Ed-Tech" groups in Europe, covering the preparation for competitive examinations, as well as official education and vocational training. Since 2019, Ilerna Online has grown steadily and now employs more than 300 professionals.

Likewise, the Skill & You group has soared to more than 800 professionals in total, including the Ilerna staff. Clearly, this positions them as one of the leading European groups in the education field and a clear leader in remote and digital learning.

The dialogue between, on one hand, Eric and Sonia of Skill & You, respectively President and GM, and on the other hand Jordi and Virginia, co-founders of Ilerna Online, fostered the successful integration of a multinational group of companies. 

They are now present in France, Spain, Italy, the UK and Mauritius. In addition, their official degrees and vocational training are available to students who reside in the rest of Europe and the world, with a particular interest from Latin America students.

The support of the group's shareholders, be it the Top Management team, Andera Partners at the time, and IK Partners more recently, has made it possible to continue to invest in the development of the Skill & You group and of Ilerna Online. For instance, Ilerna Online ("IO") has expanded its presence in the Spanish market, with the opening of new education centres in Madrid (2019) and in Seville (2020). The launch of Ilerna Online Italy and France was also a milestone.

Jordi and Virginia continue as Partners and Directors of the GSY Group. Both GSY and IO have materialized their change of scale and continue to grow nowadays in a sustainable way, for the benefit of employees, students and investors.

Aticeo has acted as exclusive M&A advisor, initially to GSY in 2018-2019 and then to the GSY - IO group.