Capella Education

Transaction Description

Capella Education Company (NASDAQ:CPLA) acquired Hackbright Academy, a non-degree software engineering school for womenbased in San Francisco, California. This acquisition will extend Capella’s strategy of providing the most direct path between learning and employment, by upskilling under-represented populations in high-demand skill areas”.

Cherry Tree’s Role

Cherry Tree was engaged by Capella to advise the company in its acquisition of Hackbright Academy, 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 Deluxe Capella Education Company

Founded in 1991, Capella Education Company (http://www.capellaeducation.com) is a leading education provider, primarily through our wholly owned subsidiary Capella University (http://www.capella.edu), 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 Hackbright Academy

Hackbright is the leading software engineering school for women with a mission to increase female representation in tech through education, mentorship and community. Its flagship fellowship is a 12-week accelerated software development program where women learn the skills to become full-time software engineers. Alumnae are represented in companies such as Facebook, Intuit, Slack, Eventbrite and New Relic. For more information, please visit www.hackbrightacademy.com.

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.