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Sberbank went to online school
Online learning schools Netologiya and Foxford have become the property of Sber. In April, Kommersant reported that the bank was considering purchasing the asset. Kommersant's sources in the industry estimated the value of the deal at approximately 4-6 billion rubles. Market participants believe that in the future, the assets will either be fully integrated into the bank's corporate structure, losing some autonomy, or will retain relative independence, but will be more closely integrated into the group's structure.
Sberbank has signed an agreement to purchase Alexey Mordashov's educational platforms Netology (additional and professional education, DPO) and Foxford (school education), three sources in the online education market told Kommersant, a source at one of the companies told Confirmed. According to them, the deal was worth approximately 4-6 billion rubles. Netology declined to comment and redirected inquiries to Sberbank. The bank's representatives did not respond to Kommersant. Foxford did not confirm the deal, but specified that it cooperates with Sberbank on several educational projects.
Netology was founded in 2011 and in September 2014 merged with Foxford Online Schools to form the educational holding company Netology Group. According to the school's official website, 35,000 people have already graduated from Netology, and 250,000 people have studied at Foxford throughout the company's history. In 2017, 40% of the company was acquired by TalentTech IT Holdings, owned by Alexey Mordashov. After Severgroup, the share increased to 85%. In June 2023, Severgroup ceased to be the founder of TT-Holding LLC, which, according to SPARK-Interfax, owned 100% of Netology LLC and 93% of Foxford LLC (7% belonged to the co-founder of Netology Group, Alexey Polovinkin). Currently, the ultimate owner of TT-Holding is not public. On January 30, the LLC announced changes to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities.
In April, Kommersant reported that Sber was in talks to buy the online platform (see Kommersant, April 16). In the assessment of the largest Russian companies in the field of educational technologies, compiled by Smart Ranking, Foxford took 7th place with revenue in the second quarter of 1.2 billion rubles, and Netology took 14th place with 630 million rubles each. According to Smart Ranking, the total revenue of the top 100 educational services in Russia in the second quarter amounted to 32 billion rubles (see Kommersant, August 1). Compared to the same period in 2023, it increased by 22.4%.
According to market participants interviewed by Kommersant, investors' interest in online education companies is growing overall. Accordingly, in the first half of the year, the industry was more active in attracting venture funds than companies in other industries: a total of 8 transactions were made during this period, reaching $4.09 million (see Kommersant, August 23). Among them is VK, which received FAS permission for previous transactions to purchase English First. At the same time, the educational institution Ultimate Education announced plans to enter the stock exchange (see Kommersant, October 8).
When it comes to integrating Foxford and Netology into the Sber network, there are two possible options, says Anastasia Mironova, editor of the industry's Telegram channel Edtechno. In the first case, the assets will lose some autonomy, since they will be fully integrated into the bank's corporate structure, she explains: "Secondly, online schools will retain their relative independence, but will be more closely integrated, for example, into corporate activities. There will be cooperation with the company's services." Kommersant's interlocutor in the media market suggests that in the future, Foxford and Netology may be sold to AO Novye Vozmozhnosti, which already manages the bank's previous media assets: the Okko online cinema and the Zvuk music streaming service.
Experts do not rule out changes in the top management of online schools. "Key managers will remain in their positions at both Foxford and Netology," says Anastasia Mironova. Employees from other Sber divisions may join them. Now, according to SPARK-Interfax, Marianna Snigireva is listed as the CEO of Netology, and Andrey Sizov is listed as the CEO of Foxford.