Capstone Partners, a national investment banking advisory firm, announced today that it has successfully advised Education Consolidation Corporation (ECC), Robertson College and Maxim Partners LLC on its acquisition of Westervelt College. Westervelt was founded in 1885 and has become a leader in providing career education in the areas of business, healthcare, law and information technology in Southern Ontario. ECC is an investment vehicle founded by Robert Prendergast, one of Canada’s leading post-secondary education industry executives, in partnership with Chicago-based Maxim Partners to consolidate quality post-secondary education institutions throughout Canada. Capstone was ECC’s exclusive advisor and also co-invested in the transaction.
Westervelt will enable Robertson to expand its 100+ year reputation into the thriving Ontario marketplace in order to provide career education to those in the area that demand it. The combination will provides students with access to many, more programs and make the more employable.
Westervelt College, headquartered in London, Ontario, was founded in 1885 and provides career training in business, healthcare, law and information technology. In 2010, Westervelt celebrated over 125 Years in business and over 48,000 graduates. Westervelt received recognition from the Prime Minister, the Premier and the Attorney General: “The enterprise and the hard work of those who have built Westervelt College over these many decades is an accomplishment that has benefitted the community and our province.” www.westervelt.ca
Robertson College, headquartered in Winnipeg, Manitoba, originally began providing career training in 1911. Currently, the College operates three campuses in Manitoba (Winnipeg and Brandon) and Alberta (Calgary) as well as an online portal. The College currently enrolls over 1,000 students in its 18 different diploma and corporate training programs in Allied Health, Business, Technology and Continuing Education. www.robertsoncollege.com
Education Consolidation Corporation was established in 2010 by Robert Prendergast with the aim of consolidating individual and regional Canadian private, post-secondary schools into one synergistic and profitable organization. Robert has years of senior executive-level experience in the Canadian for-profit education sector with CDIS, AI, and TEC The Education Company (Stenberg College and the Centres for Arts and Technology). Robert also has served as a board and executive member of the BC Career Colleges Association and is currently an executive board member of the National Association of Career Colleges and an executive board member of CETAC, the Canadian Education Training Accreditation Commission.
Maxim Partners, LLC is a Chicago-based private equity firm dedicated to lower middle-market private companies pursuing growth strategies in the Education, Environmental, Energy and Wellness industries. Maxim’s deep knowledge of sector fundamentals and industry-specific economic cycles, extensive networks of relationships, and proprietary methods for identifying expansion opportunities allow it to uniquely generate incremental value for its portfolio companies and entrepreneurial partners beyond merely injecting financial capital.
