Brighton (UK), February 2016 - Learning Technologies Group plc (LTG), a publicly listed learning-technologies agency, has acquired the entire share capital of Rustici Software, a global market leader in eLearning standards conformance.
Rustici was established in Nashville, TN (USA) in 2002 and has been instrumental in the support and development of universal technical standards for the eLearning industry. They are the acknowledged global leaders in the SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) marketplace and co-creator of the xAPI standard (also known as Tin Can API or Experience API), a next-generation standard created to capture rich data on every aspect of learning.
To utilise and exploit xAPI data, Rustici founders Mike Rustici and Tim Martin created a separate business, Watershed, which has developed a learning-record store (LRS) to fully ascertain the impact and effectiveness of learning programmes. LTG is taking a thirty percent stake in Watershed. Tim Martin will remain the CEO of Rustici under LTG's ownership, and Mike Rustici will focus exclusively on Watershed to accelerate the development of this young, high-growth business.
The acquisition of Rustici brings a new dimension of technical insight to LTG's portfolio, allowing the Group to create and deliver pioneering learning solutions that solve the challenges of modern businesses. They join LTG's portfolio, which includes LEO, a pioneering learning-technologies firm; the multi-device authoring tool gomolearning; games-with-purpose company Preloaded; and governance, risk, and compliance experts Eukleia.
Furthermore, the acquisition strengthens the Group's North American presence, where growth opportunities in the learning technologies sector are high - and significant for both partners. Rustici is expected to take advantage of LTG's global reach and its learning expertise from across the Group, and existing LTG businesses will benefit from the enhanced opportunity to productise, contextualise, and personalise their solutions.
Jonathan Satchell, Chief Executive of LTG, commented, "Consistent with our strategy of establishing an international full-spectrum eLearning business, acquiring Rustici firmly places LTG at the heart of the eLearning industry. Further, our investment in Watershed positions LTG at the vanguard of the industry's future standard, xAPI. This will provide the Group with invaluable insights and a competitive advantage in a platform that will have a profound change on the digital-learning industry."
