Marlin Equity Partners has made a substantial investment in online learning company Learning Pool, taking over the existing shareholding of Carlyle Cardinal Ireland.

Founded in 2006 in Northern Ireland, Learning Pool now 260 staff in the UK and US and plans to hire at least 100 more during the course of this year.

the business provides an integrated suite of digital learning products and services, helping organisations such as Intercontinental Hotels Group, Sky, Swiss Re and the FA  to migrate their training initiatives to ‘cloud’ technology, and has expanded rapidly since Carlyle Cardinal came on board with its investment in 2016.

Chief executive Paul McElvaney said: “Over the past five years we have achieved phenomenal growth with the fantastic support of Carlyle Cardinal, and we’re very grateful for the help and encouragement we’ve had from the team.

“We’re delighted to have found the right partner to help us continue our momentum and grow the Learning Pool brand globally. Marlin has an incredible heritage in helping businesses like ours scale and innovate. We’re excited to be working with them and confident that both our customers and our team will see immediate benefits from Marlin’s investment.

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“Learning Pool’s entire executive management team has re-invested in the company, providing a compelling foundation upon which we’ll build the next phase of growth.”

Marlin Equity managing director Jan-Olivier Fillols added: “Learning Pool has achieved significant growth through its customer-centric philosophy and unique end-to-end e-learning proposition. We believe the business is extremely well-positioned to capitalise on a highly attractive market opportunity, and we are excited to partner with an exceptional team to drive both organic and inorganic growth together.”