Providence Agrees to Acquire Blackboard for $1.64 Billion

Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

Providence Equity Partners Inc. agreed to buy Blackboard Inc., an education-software maker, for $1.64 billion to expand in university course materials.

Providence will pay $45 a share in cash, a 21 percent premium over Blackboard’s closing price on April 18, the last day of trading before the software maker said it would consider strategic alternatives, the companies said in a statement today.