MISSION, Kan. — Aug. 15, 2023 — Trive Capital (“Trive”), the Dallas-based private equity firm, and Epic Partners (“Epic”), are excited to announce their investment into Pryor Learning (“Pryor” or the “Company”), a leading corporate training, credentialing, and educational content provider serving small and medium sized customers across industries.
“Pryor has a rich history of being the go-to provider for business content that is accessible, affordable & effective”
Originally founded in 1970 as Fred Pryor Seminars and headquartered in Mission, Kansas, Pryor offers award-winning, timely and affordable learning solutions for individuals, teams and organizations. Through multiple training formats including In-Person Events, Live Virtual Seminars, Webinars, and the premier offering of Pryor+ subscriptions, Pryor provides access to a comprehensive content library to enrich, transform and propel individuals and organizations forward.
As part of the transaction, Steven Riehs has assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer. Steve most recently served as the Senior Vice President of Strategic Solutions and Innovation at International Education Corporation, and has held CEO, COO, and senior leadership roles in education at a number of companies including: Adtalem, Maxim Partners, and Kaplan. Steve commented, “Pryor has a rich history of being the go-to provider for business content that is easy to access, affordable, and effective. I am honored to lead the Company at this exciting juncture in hybrid learning. I look forward to working alongside our talented team to keep innovating our offering and exceeding our customers’ expectations.”
“We are thrilled to partner with a leading training provider with digital delivery expertise, a diversified customer base, high quality management team, and leading content access,” commented Chris Zugaro, Partner at Trive. “Pryor is a best-in-class solution for an underserved customer base, allowing its users to successfully complete mandatory training and employee upskilling. Our next phase of growth will include organic investments to enhance the customer experience as well as acquisitions that will build on our proprietary content base and tech-enabled platform.”
Tyton Partners served as financial advisor to Pryor Learning. Polsinelli served as legal counsel to Trive Capital and Epic Partners.
About Pryor
Over the past 50 years, Pryor has offered skills-enhancing training solutions to 3 million businesses and 13 million learners. Individual and team clients can access virtual and in-person live seminars, as well as subscribe to thousands of on-demand courses delivered via Pryor’s proprietary learning management system. Pryor’s mission is to build the training pathways to empower and upskill employees, and to help organizations in all industries retain engaged, capable, and compliant workforces.
About Trive
Trive Capital is a Dallas, Texas based private equity firm with over $4.0 billion in assets under management. Trive focuses on investing equity and debt in what it sees as strategically viable middle-market companies with the potential for transformational upside through operational improvement. We seek to maximize returns through a hands-on partnership that calls for identifying and implementing value creation ideas.
The Trive team is comprised of seasoned investment professionals who have been involved in over 100 middle-market transactions representing in excess of $6 billion in revenue across Trive’s targeted industry sectors and situations.
About Epic Partners
Epic Partners is a New York-based merchant banking firm focused exclusively on making investments in education and training related businesses.
