Pearson acquires leading online language learning platform

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Apr 29, 2022, 09:22 ET

HOBOKEN, N.J., April 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Pearson, the world's leading learning company, today announced it has acquired Mondly, a global online language learning platform. The acquisition will allow Pearson to offer a full range of ways for people to learn and prove their English skills – adding online self-study to its existing diagnosis and learning tools and assessment portfolio.

Mondly is one of the world's leading online language learning players, offering consumers high quality learning in English and 40 other languages via its app, website, virtual reality and augmented reality products. Mondly delivers language courses for both professional and personal learning in a combination of more than 1300 language pairs and is consistently ranked as one of the highest rated educational language apps in the app store. It also offers enterprise solutions through MondlyWORKS and has built an award-winning app that helps children learn languages – MondlyKIDS.

"Today's acquisition marks another step in our digital strategy, giving us an exciting foothold in the fast growing direct-to-consumer English learning market and building yet more connectivity across the entire Pearson portfolio," said Andy Bird, chief executive of Pearson.

"Mondly is a fast growing and profitable business that expands our reach and scale in the language learning market and drives growth for the company. This acquisition is strategically important to the Group as well as being accretive and driving shareholder returns."

"Mondly's mission has always been to make language learning fun, easy and accessible to everyone. We are excited to be joining forces with Pearson, the world's leading learning company, to help us achieve our goal on a much larger scale. Together we will work to shape the future of learning languages, " said Alex Iliescu, CEO and co-founder of Mondly.

Pearson expects this acquisition to accelerate revenue growth from 2023 onwards for our English Language Learning division and continues to expect mid-teens margins for the division by 2025.

The acquisition enables the company to offer a fully integrated market proposition. It also provides synergies and cross-selling opportunities across the portfolio, such as offering the opportunity to bundle English with upskilling and reskilling products through Pearson's Workforce Skills division. The Mondly team, including the founders, will join Pearson's English Language Learning division.

About Pearson
At Pearson, our purpose is simple: to add life to a lifetime of learning. We believe that every learning opportunity is a chance for a personal breakthrough. That's why our c.20,000 Pearson employees are committed to creating vibrant and enriching learning experiences designed for real-life impact. We are the world's leading learning company, serving customers in nearly 200 countries with digital content, assessments, qualifications, and data. For us, learning isn't just what we do. It's who we are. Visit us pearsonplc.com.

About Mondly
Mondly is a leading language learning platform that has been named "Regional App of the Year" by Facebook, "App of the Day" by Apple, and "Editors' Choice" by Google Play. Launched in 2014, it quickly became a leading app in the mobile space. According to Statista, Mondly is currently in the Top 5 language learning apps worldwide by number of downloads.

Contact
Joe Wiggins, [email protected]

SOURCE Pearson