- The all-cash £189.3 million deal values Tribal at about 10.8x its 2025 adjusted EBITDA of £17.5 million
- Tribal’s board rejected a rival approach from SilverTree Equity Partners at 95 pence a share, citing doubts over funding certainty and regulatory risk
- Shareholders holding about 44.2% of Tribal’s stock have given irrevocable commitments to back the deal, which goes to a shareholder vote expected October 2, 2026
Main Capital Partners has agreed to acquire all of the operating subsidiaries directly held by Tribal Group, a UK-listed education software and services company trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, in an all-cash deal worth approximately £189.3 million ($255 million; €221 million). The acquisition is being made through Thames Bidco, an entity controlled by Main, and would move Tribal’s operating businesses from public to private ownership.
Tribal generated revenue of £92.5 million and adjusted EBITDA of £17.5 million in 2025, implying an enterprise value of roughly 10.8x adjusted EBITDA. Of the total cash consideration, £4.9 million has been earmarked for participants in Tribal’s share plans in exchange for releasing their options.
Tribal’s board had previously rejected a rival proposal from SilverTree Equity Partners at 95 pence a share, citing concerns over the certainty of its funding and the risk of regulatory delays. Shareholders representing approximately 44.2 percent of Tribal’s issued share capital have given irrevocable undertakings to vote in favor of the Main transaction, which requires approval by a simple majority of votes cast at a general meeting expected to be held on October 2, 2026, together with applicable regulatory and customary closing conditions. Upon completion, Tribal’s board intends to seek shareholder approval to delist the company from AIM and place it into voluntary liquidation.
Founded in 1999, Tribal employs about 915 professionals and serves more than 660 institutions globally, including over 200 universities, across the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Asia-Pacific. Its software supports the full student lifecycle, from recruitment and admissions through enrolment, assessment, progression and graduation. The portfolio includes Tribal’s Student Information Solutions division and Etio (Empowering Education International), alongside EBS and Maytas for further education, apprenticeship and work-based learning providers, complemented by cloud, data and analytics, timetabling, integration and student-engagement tools.
Main and Tribal said the education software market is benefiting from structural growth trends, including migration from legacy systems to cloud-based platforms and increasing regulatory, reporting and automation requirements. Following completion, the companies plan to accelerate cloud adoption, expand Tribal’s product offering, deepen penetration across its existing customer base and pursue further acquisitions to broaden its capabilities and geographic reach.
“Tribal has established a strong position in the international education software market, combining deep sector expertise with mission-critical solutions that are embedded within the core operations of education institutions,” said Sjoerd Aarts, managing partner and head of Benelux & UK at Main. He added that the firm sees “significant potential to accelerate Tribal’s cloud transition, broaden its product offering, and further strengthen its international position.”
Main is a software-focused private equity investor with about €12 billion in assets under management and roughly 105 employees across offices in the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, France, the UK and the US, with an affiliate office in Boston. Its portfolio includes more than 55 software companies employing about 15,000 people.
Editor’s note: This news brief was produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence.