Capella Education
Cherry Tree Advises Capella Education

“Thanks to you and your team in surfacing this opportunity. The strategic fit and growth potential make this an exciting opportunity.”
Steve Polacek
Senior VP & Chief Financial Officer
Capella Education Company.
Transaction Description
Capella Education Company (NASDAQ:CPLA) acquired DevMountain, an industry-leading coding school headquartered in Provo Utah, with three locations. DevMountain’s mission is to be the most accessible and impactful software coding school in the country by bringing affordability to the highest quality, hands-on education in the software coding industry. DevMountain represents a complementary platform on which to extend Capella’s leadership position in the job-ready skills market.
Cherry Tree’s Role
Cherry Tree was engaged by Capella to advise the company in its acquisition of DevMountain, working with corporate executives and the acquisition project team in identifying and engaging with acquisition candidates, negotiating terms of the transaction, providing financial modeling and valuation analysis, supporting the due diligence process, and facilitating the closing of the transaction.
About Capella Education Company
Founded in 1991, Capella Education Company is a leading education provider, primarily through our wholly owned subsidiary Capella University, a regionally accredited online university with approximately 37,000 learners as of Dec. 31, 2015. Capella Education Company also owns Sophia (http://www.sophia.org), an innovative learning platform leveraging technology to support self-paced learning and Capella Learning Solutions (CLS) which provides online non-degree, high-demand, job-ready skills, training solutions and services to individuals and corporate partners. For a company profile, please visit www.capella.edu.
About DevMountain
DevMountain has a reputation of being the most accessible and impactful code school in the country by bringing affordability to the highest quality, hands-on education in the software coding industry. Headquartered in Provo, UT, DevMountain has additional locations in Salt Lake City, UT and Dallas, TX.
About Cherry Tree & Associates
Cherry Tree & Associates, LLC is a private investment banking firm headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, specializing in serving entrepreneurially-managed companies. Founded in 1980, the firm provides financial advisory engagements for buyers, sellers, and companies seeking growth capital, and provides fairness opinions and other valuation services.
Cherry Tree & Associates provides investment banking services through our FINRA-licensed broker dealer.