| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | CD-ROM software internet |
| Founded | 1995 |
| Headquarters | Boston, MA and Dublin, USA, Ireland |
| Website | [1] |
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Learning Technology originally started as Riverdeep Interactive Learning, is a publishing house for educational online and CD-ROM products based in San Francisco and Dublin, Ireland. Founded in 1995, Riverdeep was principally the creation of the Irish ex-investment banker Barry O'Callaghan. O'Callaghan was Riverdeep's CEO and controlling shareholder.[1]
In October 2002, Riverdeep became a private entity when their stock price plummeted below $2 in NASDAQ.[2]
On September 20, 2004, Riverdeep moved its Novato office to 100 Pine Street in San Francisco.
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Riverdeep also helped on a game called Hamtaro: Wake Up Snoozer!
On December 22, 2006, it was announced that Riverdeep PLC had completed its acquisition of Houghton Mifflin. The new joint enterprise would be called the Houghton Mifflin Riverdeep Group. Riverdeep paid 1.75 billion in cash and assumed $1.61 billion in debt from the private investment firms Thomas H. Lee Partners, Bain Capital Partners and The Blackstone Group.[3] Tony Lucki, a former non-executive director of Riverdeep, would remain in his position as Houghton Mifflin's chief executive officer. HM Rivergroup indicated it wanted to capitalize on the "convergence of print and digital education platforms."
In July, 2007, Reed Elsevier (an information and publishing group) offloaded Harcourt US Schools Education business to Houghton Mifflin, Inc. for $4.0 billion, with $3.7 billion payable in cash and $0.3 billion payable in common stock of Houghton Mifflin, Inc.[4]
Houghton Mifflin was privately held. Existing investors put up $23 million of equity financing to help to meet the $3.7 billion cash requirement for the purchase. Reed took a $300 million stake in Houghton Mifflin, Inc., which left it with 11.8 per cent of the common stock in the enlarged company.[5]
The combined business became known as Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH), and a new holding company, EMPG, was created. The Riverdeep name is no longer used by HMH.
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