The weight of investment banking giant Goldman Sachs is a force to be reckoned with, and Learning Technologies Group has found itself on the right side of that power today.
The e-learning business, which is listed on London's junior market Aim, saw its share price rise as much as 6.7 per cent in morning trading as it announced Goldman Sachs was joining Numis as its joint corporate broker.
It is the only company listed on Aim to have enticed Goldman Sachs, and the familiar name certainly seems to have lent Learning Technologies some credibility with investors judging by this morning's movements.
Read more:E-learning business Learning Technologies Group is looking smart as revenues rocket
“The appointment of Goldman Sachs as joint broker reflects the progress made over several years at Learning Technologies Group, having built a solid foundation as a consolidator in the fragmented and fast-growing corporate e-learning market," said Learning Technologies' chief executive Jonathan Satchell.
The business is planning to become a leader in the fragmented electronic learning space by scooping up several smaller businesses, in an aggressive buy-and-build play. Goldman Sachs' expertise in mergers and acquisitions will no doubt be extremely helpful.
A spokesperson for the bank said it had decided to work with Learning Technologies due to it being an "exciting business with an ambitious management team and a very positive future".
Read more: LTG share price rose nearly five per cent after posting double-digit revenue growth
When analyst Edison began covering the company last year, shortly after Learning Technologies acquired learning management systems business NetDimensions, it said it "has been growing apace and profit margins have been rising strongly".
Last month, Berenberg upgraded the company "yet again" to a target price of 80p and a "buy" recommendation. "While the company has an ambitious revenue target of £100m by 2020, against a consensus of circa £70m, this is looking increasingly possible," said analyst Ben May.
A collaboration with Google and the BBC
Learning Technologies has also been imaginative with its educational activities, as it this week announced a virtual reality collaboration with Google and the BBC.
It has helped to create a new app for fans of the BBC's natural history shows called BBC Earth: Life in VR, which can be viewed on Daydream-compatible smartphones and Daydream View headsets. The app allows viewers to wander below the sea's surface in real-time to view and learn about the creatures of the depths.
Preloaded, the games branch of Learning Technologies which created the app, has also worked with Lego, Tate and the Science Museum.
Read more:Virtual reality rocket: Sector set to swell with Brits owning 16m headsets within five years
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