Houlihan Lokey Advises Trainor

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that Trainor, a portfolio company of EV Private Equity, has been acquired by Apave. Houlihan Lokey acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Trainor. The transaction was signed and closed on 4 August 2023.

Trainor is a recognised player in the development of high-quality vocational training courses in interactive, customisable 3D environments. Founded in 1995, Trainor offers regulatory training, particularly in electrical safety and explosive atmospheres (ATEX), as well as digital security and first aid. Training courses are developed on a standard or customised basis to meet the needs of all its customers from a wide range of sectors, including infrastructure, construction, energy and industry.

Apave is an international group with more than 150 years of experience, specialising in the management of technical, environmental, human, and digital risks and a leading provider of vocational training in occupational health and safety and risk management, training more than 415,000 trainees a year through its 200 training centres in France and abroad. Training is a key activity for companies, enabling their employees to carry out their jobs in appropriate safety conditions, to anticipate the new risks inherent in new working methods (robotisation, new technologies, cyber-protection, etc.), and to increase the employability of each individual.

The acquisition of Trainor by the Apave Group establishes a leader in vocational training services that are recognised for their quality and digital learning technologies. The combination of Apave's and Trainor's know-how and expertise will enhance their joint offering and enable them to better support their customers with cutting-edge tools.

EV Private Equity is a Norwegian investor powering the decarbonisation of the energy sector who has raised more than $750 million through five funds. Founded in 2002, it has more than 320 years of cross-sector experience and 16 portfolio companies managed across its offices in Norway and the UK. It has made 59 primary investments and avoided more than 91,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2022. EV Private Equity originally invested in Trainor in 2020.

Houlihan Lokey served as the exclusive financial advisor to Trainor and assisted in marketing the transaction, managing the transaction process, and negotiating the financial aspects of the deal on its behalf. This builds upon Houlihan Lokey’s market-leading position in the education technology and professional training sectors. Other recent transactions include advising Twinkl on its growth investment from Vitruvian Partners, as well as the sales of FutureLearn to Global University Systems; Clio to Egmont; ICS Learn to Skill & You; Circus Street to QA; CPOMS to Raptor Technologies; EducaEdu to Miura Partners; QuestionMark to Learnosity; EducationDynamics to Renovus Capital; and Skillsoft on its Chapter 11 restructuring and subsequent sale to Churchill Capital Corp. II.