The Learning Company
| The Learning Company
|
|
|---|---|
 |
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| legal form | unknown |
| founding | 1980 |
| resolution | 2018 |
| Seat | Boston |
| Branch | Educational software |
| Website | http://learningcompany.com/ |
The Learning Company ( TLC for short ) was an American software company founded in 1980 that specialized in the production of educational software . At times it was considered the world's second largest provider of application software for end customers. With the turn of the millennium, the company fell into crisis and increasingly lost its importance. Since 2006 it is a brand and slogan of the American publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt .
history
The Learning Company was founded in 1980 as Learning Co. by Ann McCormick, Leslie Grimm, Teri Perl, the game designer Warren Robinett (including Adventure ) and with financial support from the National Science Foundation . The company wanted to use the new possibilities of home computers to support children in learning to read, do arithmetic and learn science. In 1985 Bill Dinsmore was hired as managing director. The company went public on April 28, 1992 under Dinsmore. In 1995, the Canadian company Softkey TLC took over for 606 million US dollars, which outperformed its competitor Brøderbund . In 1996 Softkey itself took the name of its subsidiary.
In March 1998, TLC took over competitor Mindscape from the Pearson media group for 150 million US dollars , and in June also Brøderbund for 420 million dollars. In addition to the educational software division, both companies also had a mainstay in the entertainment software sector. These included, for example, the Prince of Persia and Myst game series distributed by Brøderbund via the Red Orb Entertainment game label, or the development studio Strategic Simulations, which belongs to Mindscape, with its Panzer General series . In a restructuring in the same year, Brøderbund was integrated into TLC and computer game development was outsourced to Mindscape.
In December 1998 TLC was taken over by the American toy manufacturer Mattel . At that time, TLC was the second largest provider of application software after Microsoft . With the purchase, Mattel wanted to enter a growth market in order to compensate for the weak sales of toys. Just two years later, the $ 3.6 billion acquisition was considered one of the worst takeover deals in recent history. In the year after the acquisition, TLC accumulated losses of $ 300 million and, according to analysts, burned another million dollars a day the following year. Mattel managing director Jill Barad, who was responsible for the takeover, was then fired and TLC was sold to the Gores Technology Group for $ 50 million plus, if applicable, $ 300 million in future profit sharing - less than a tenth of the original purchase price. Gores sold TLC's games division to the French publisher Ubisoft, the educational software division went in two tranches in September 2001 and August 2002 to the Irish company Riverdeep Interactive Learning.
Riverdeep merged in 2006 in a reverse takeover with the American publisher Houghton Mifflin , which traded as Houghton Mifflin Harcourt after another takeover. Under its new name, The Learning Company served as a label for some publications until 2018. Since then it has only been used as a slogan for the parent company.
Well-known product lines
- Carmen Sandiego
- The Cluefinders
- Mind power
- Reader Rabbit
- Super solvers
- Zoombinis
Web links
- Abigail Cain: The rise and fall of the company behind 'Reader Rabbit' and all your favorite educational games. In: The Outline. September 26, 2018, accessed on July 16, 2020 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Lawrence M. Fisher: Softkey Reaches Agreement to Buy Learning Company . In: New York Times . December 8, 1995. Retrieved January 19, 2017.
- ↑ Julie Pitta: Learning Co. to Be Bought by SoftKey for $ 606 Million: Computers: Friendly suitor Broderbund is outbid. Deal would make SoftKey largest educational software company. . In: Los Angeles Times . December 8, 1995. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
- ↑ Bruce Livesey: The real (and shocking) story of Kevin O'Leary's business career. In: National Observer Canada. January 26, 2016, accessed on July 16, 2020 .
- ^ Dow Jones: COMPANY NEWS; LEARNING COMPANY SETS DEAL FOR MINDSCAPE . March 7, 1998. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
- ^ Learning Co. cuts 500 jobs . September 11, 1998. Archived from the original on June 29, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
- ^ Alan Dunkin: Red Orb Stays With Mindscape . In: GameSpot . October 2, 1998. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
- ^ Mattel to buy Learning Company. In: CNET. Retrieved July 14, 2020 .
- ↑ Andrew Cave: Mattel sale ends $ 3.6bn fiasco . In: The Daily Telegraph , September 30, 2000. Archived from the original on June 24, 2019. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
- ^ Steve Rosenbush: When Big Deals Go Bad — and Why . October 4, 2007. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
- ^ Ubi Soft Acquires The Learning Company's Entertainment Division . GameZone. March 7, 2001. Retrieved February 24, 2010.
- ↑ Riverdeep to expand product range. In: Irish Times . August 28, 2002, accessed July 16, 2020 .
- ↑ Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson & Peter Smith: Riverdeep pursues Houghton Mifflin . In: Financial Times . October 24, 2006 ( ft.com [accessed July 16, 2020]).
- ^ Robert Gavin: Deal reported close for Houghton Mifflin. In: Boston Globe . October 24, 2006, archived from the original on July 27, 2009 ; accessed on July 9, 2020 (English).
- ^ United Press International: Riverdeep buying Houghton Mifflin. In: KSL. November 29, 2006, accessed July 16, 2020 .