Coursera (COUR.N) announced Wednesday it’s buying Udemy (UDMY.O) in an all-stock deal valuing the two companies at $2.5 billion. This shows the main players in online learning are joining forces as fewer people sign up for courses than during the pandemic and the industry faces more financial pressure.
Udemy’s shareholders will get 0.8 Coursera shares for each Udemy share they own. That makes the deal worth about $930 million, according to Reuters’ calculations. Coursera’s stock went up about 8% after the announcement, and Udemy’s jumped nearly 28%.
The merger combines two of the biggest digital learning platforms in the U.S. Course sign-ups have slowed down since the peak years of 2020 and 2021. Both companies are moving away from selling courses directly to consumers and focusing more on business clients. They aim to get reliable subscription revenue to grow and stay stable.
Coursera and Udemy believe joining forces will help them capture more of the growing business demand for job training in areas like AI, data science, and software development. Companies are investing more in training employees in new skills because AI is rapidly changing workplace needs.
Based on Coursera’s most recent stock price, the offer is worth $6.35 per Udemy share, about 18.3% more than it was. The companies expect the deal to close in the second half of next year, but it needs to be approved by regulators and shareholders first.
Coursera works with universities and other institutions to offer degrees and professional certificates, and is focusing more on its business services. Udemy has a marketplace of independent instructors who offer individual courses and business subscriptions.
Even though people are hopeful that AI training will help them grow in the long run, online education stocks haven’t been doing great. Investors aren’t as confident because there’s a lot of competition, prices are tight, and it’s unclear whether expanding into AI will pay off.
Udemy’s stock is down about 35% this year, and Coursera’s is down about 7%. Both companies are trading well below their levels after their initial public offerings.
If the deal goes through, it will create a much larger player in online learning at a key time. Companies everywhere are looking beyond traditional education and seeking fast, AI-focused training. Coursera and Udemy are now hoping that together, they’ll have a better chance of shaping the future.
