Multiple posts in the blogosphere have confirmed the news that test prep giant Kaplan has acquired Manhattan GMAT(MGMAT) and its sister company, Atlas LSAT.
According to a post on Beat the GMAT by test prep firm Knewton’s Chris Rosenbaum, Knewton has confirmed the news with multiple sources at both Kaplan and MGMAT and expects an official announcement in the next few weeks. A Kaplan employee reportedly tweeted the news in late December, Rosenbaum added, though that post was quickly deleted.
A separate post, from Noah Teitelbaum, Atlas LSAT managing director, confirmed both acquisitions. Teitelbaum’s post suggests that the acquisitions resulted from MGMAT founder Zeke Vanderhoek’s involvement in other projects. Vanderhoek opened a charter school in New York City in 2009, founded on the same principle as MGMAT, namely that high teacher compensation will attract the best talent. “As you can imagine, being a principal is not a part-time job, so he wasn’t really able to be as involved with the companies as he wished,” Teitelbaum wrote.
Teitelbaum acknowledged that the acquisition, especially of Atlas, might seem strange since it is a competitor to Kaplan. “But Kaplan has told us in no uncertain terms to do what we do and to do it in the way we do it,” Teitelbaum wrote.
So according to Teitelbaum, Atlas will continue to operate independently with its own staff, teachers and curriculum and will maintain its highly selective hiring process and high teacher compensation. Moreover, Atlas will continue to target high-scoring test-takers in the 170+ range.
We will continue to follow this story here at Clear Admit and talk with some of the major players involved to understand what this acquisition means for the future of Manhattan GMAT as well as the industry as a whole. Please stay tuned for follow-up reports in the coming week.
