Skillsoft

Skillsoft was founded by Charles Moran in 1998. Moran served as Chief Executive Officer and President from 1998 to 2015.[6]

Skillsoft had an IPO under the stock symbol SKIL in February 2000[7] and a SPO in July 2001.[8][9]

Skillsoft acquired Books24x7 in 2001.[10] In 2002, Skillsoft merged with IT courseware company SmartForce (formerly CBT Systems), with the combined company retaining the Skillsoft name.[11] The company acquired NETg from Thomson Corporation in 2007.[11]

In May 2010, the company was bought out for US$1.2 billion by SSI Investments III Limited, a firm funded by Berkshire Partners, Advent International and Bain Capital.[12][13] Skillsoft acquired Element K from NIIT in October 2011, and MindLeaders from ThirdForce Group in September 2012.[12]

Skillsoft was sold by Berkshire Partners to Charterhouse Capital Partners for US$2.0 Billion on April 28, 2014.[12][2] Later that year, Skillsoft acquired SumTotal Systems in September 2014.[14] In May 2015, Skillsoft acquired Vodeclic SAS.[15]

In September 2017, Skillsoft launched virtual coding practice lab CodeX, which provides coding exercises with embedded video content.[16][17]

On June 14, 2020, Skillsoft voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States.[18] On August 27, 2020 Skillsoft was able to announce that it had emerged from bankruptcy. During the court-supervised process the company was able to reduce its debt by $1.5 billion US dollars.[19]