Located in St. Petersburg, Florida, Knowledge Accelerators (“KA”) provides software adoption and IT training for companies looking to drive behavioral change with how their employees use their software. With 21 years in business, Knowledge Accelerators focuses on adult learning and standardization of content, with an extensive library of tutorial videos (25k+) used in its courses. KA primarily partners with resellers who offer the courses as a part of a package of services to their clients.
Anand Shah, the new partial owner of Knowledge Accelerators, spent most of his career as an investor for top-tier investment banks and funds. For much of his career, he was based in New York and London and traveled around the world building investment cases and doing research. After 18 years of living in England, he wanted to move back to Atlanta, Georgia to be closer to his family. He wasn’t sure where he wanted to take his career, but knew he wanted to do something different. Two of his friends, also fellow alums from Emory University, had recently acquired a business, which inspired him to do the same. Anand then set out to acquire a company and looked at 75-100 different businesses in a wide variety of industries. While some of those deals eventually fell through, he met with a correspondent from KA and thought it would be a fantastic opportunity. The business has a strong client retention rate and solid recurring income, which fit Anand’s needs. He was ready to acquire the business, but needed the financing to do so.
Anand pursued an SBA loan because Knowledge Accelerators products are based on intellectual property and software rather than physical assets to offer as collateral. While he met with many SBA lenders, he ultimately chose to partner with one of our experienced Business Development Officers. The two met at an Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) conference in Atlanta, where they chatted about the Company and set the relationship in motion. Once the SBA loan process began, the original owner decided that he still wanted to be involved with the business, instead of having it acquired outright. Our BDO was able to quickly adapt and restructure the SBA loan that allowed Anand to achieve partial ownership of Knowledge Accelerators. This SBA loan was also the first partial change of ownership loan to close at FNB Small Business.
This is what Anand had to say about his experience partnering with our BDO and the team at FNB Small Business Finance:
He was so clear and upfront with me through all stages of the process. All of our timelines were met, and he was extraordinarily prompt and organized. He was truly supportive of me, and his questions empowered me to make good decisions. I am incredibly impressed with how flexible FNb was with this transaction, particularly in moving forward with a partial buyout. I would wholeheartedly recommend this team to anyone looking to finance a transaction like this.
Congratulations to Anand for taking ownership of Knowledge Accelerators! We look forward to seeing how he takes this business to new heights in the future.
www.knowledgeaccelerators.com
Phone: 813-374-9436
ka@knowledgeaccelerators.com
