Changes in Anthology's Prospects

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We have been tracking the financial challenges faced by Anthology, owner of Blackboard as well as SIS and CRM product lines. Last year I described Anthology’s partial recapitalization to help manage a debt crisis by raising $250 million from its owners (primarily PE firm Veritas). In January there was the partial default where Anthology, in agreement with first-lien lenders, skipped its interest payments on the second-lien debt. And last month I shared that Veritas might just walk away, handing over equity to the debt holders, as part of a prepackaged deal ideally avoiding bankruptcy court.

While nothing has changed with Anthology’s operations or strategy, I think we’re seeing meaningful changes in the ownership negotiations and with the likely outcomes.

Exploration of Sale

There are now signs that this agreement is not as simple as a prepackaged “walk away” scenario that can be resolved by the end of June. According to Bloomberg, there is now an effort to sell all or part of Anthology.

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