Corporate finance experts in the Bristol office of professional services group Evelyn Partners have worked on a key deal in the fast-developing UK edtech market.
The team acted as lead advisor to the shareholders of the takeover or Scholarcy, a streamlined and user-friendly study tool that helps students and researchers organise, summarise and critically evaluate sources. 
The London-based firm has become part of global leader in assistive technology Texthelp, which operates a suite of study support tools for higher education students across the UK, US and Australia.
By pooling their expertise and resources, Texthelp aims to take Scholarcy to the next level, expanding its reach and impact.
The acquisition also marks a significant step towards fulfilling Texthelp’s vision of improving the literacy and understanding of 1bn people by 2030.
Scholarcy co-founder and CEO Phil Gooch shares Texthelp’s vision of helping as many people as people understand and be understood.
Since its launch in 2018, more than half a million students and researchers have used Scholarcy to read and understand academic texts.
Phil added: “I’m very proud of what we have achieved with Scholarcy, and I’m excited to continue its evolution as we partner with Texthelp.
“Our shared goal is to make the world’s knowledge more accessible to everybody. Together, we can bring the benefits of this tool to more students and researchers than ever before.”
He said the team at Evelyn, led by Alex Sowerby and Iain Lownes, had “pulled out all the stops and still somehow made this a personal, rewarding experience”.
“As advisers, Evelyn always maintained a sense of calm and control, clearly explaining the strategy they would be deploying with our full input. Evelyn put everything into this project and delivered a fantastic result,” he added.
“Alex and the Evelyn Partners team had a thorough understanding of our sector, and we had total trust in their abilities throughout.”
The deal, financial details of which have not been disclosed, is the fourth tech sector transaction the Evelyn team has completed in as many months.
Legal advice to Scholarcy was provided by Michelmores.
