Centre Lane Partners Acquires Infobase from VSS

NEW YORK, Jan. 08, 2018 -- Centre Lane Partners, LLC (“Centre Lane”) has completed the acquisition of Infobase Holdings, Inc. (“Infobase”), a cloud-based provider of digital educational content solutions to colleges & universities, K-12 schools, public libraries and enterprises from VSS, a private investment firm focused on the information, tech-enabled business services, healthcare services, and education industries.

Founded in 1940 and acquired by VSS in 2005, Infobase provides one-stop solutions for customers through its robust product portfolio of streaming video platforms, databases, eLearning modules, eBook collections, and other products. Key brands include: Facts on File, Films on Demand, Blooms, The World Almanac, Learn360, Chelsea House, Ferguson’s, and Vault.com.

“I am excited to partner with Centre Lane as we continue to develop and grow the Infobase business,” said Mark D. McDonnell, CEO of Infobase. “Our team has worked incredibly hard to get the company to this important point and we will work collectively with Centre Lane to develop and implement a strategic plan that will build upon our current successes and further accelerate growth.”

“Mark McDonnell and his team built a strong platform and a leading solution in the digital educational content space and we are highly optimistic about the company’s growth prospects,” said Kenneth Lau, Managing Director of Centre Lane. “We are thrilled to add the Infobase business to the Centre Lane portfolio and we very much look forward to working with the Infobase team to execute on our strategic initiatives.”

“We are proud of the progress Infobase has made transitioning the business from a transactional print publisher to a digital subscription business and believe Centre Lane is the perfect partner for the next phase of its growth,” added David Bainbridge, Managing Director of VSS.

Signal Hill, a Daiwa Securities Group Inc. company, acted as Infobase’s exclusive financial advisor.

About Centre Lane Partners
Centre Lane Partners (www.centrelanepartners.com) is a private investment firm focused on making equity and debt, control and non-control, investments in North American middle market companies. Centre Lane Partners targets companies with revenues between $20 and $500 million that have leading market positions and sustainable competitive advantages in their respective niches. Industries targeted for investment are broad and diverse with no industry excluded from our consideration.

About VSS
VSS (www.vss.com) is a private investment firm that invests in the information, tech-enabled business services, healthcare services, and education industries. VSS provides capital for growth financings, recapitalizations, strategic acquisitions and buyouts to lower middle market companies and management teams with the goal of building companies organically as well as through a focused add-on acquisition program. VSS makes privately-negotiated investments across the capital structure and has the ability to invest in situations requiring control or non-control equity, mezzanine securities and structured equity securities.

Centre Lane Partners Contact:
Pierre Champion
Vice President of Business Development
[email protected]
(646) 843-0717

VSS Contact:
Tanya Dessereau
Manager of Marketing and New Business Development
[email protected]
(212) 381-8556