Shaw Academy, the Irish online education venture, has exited examinership after a consortium of investors agreed a scheme to provide €7m in funding.

The buyout consortium includes Folens Publishing, London-based investor Sean Tai, Setanta Sports founder Michael O’Rourke and former Virgin Group CEO Stephen Murphy, who has been chairman of the company since 2017.

Other members of the consortium are Oxford International Education Group co-founder David Brown, Australian investor Neil Balnaves and Irish-based debt investor Beach Point Capital.

Sean Tai is the lead investor, while Folens-backed Learning Accelerator Investments is the next biggest shareholder. It is reported that Beach Point Capital is providing a €1.5m loan, as well as a working capital facility of €2m.

John Cadell of Folens and Sean Tai will join Shaw Academy’s board.

In Association with

Shaw Academy was founded by Adrian Murphy and James Egan (pictured) in 2013. It provides more than 50 online courses in subjects ranging from technology and music to marketing, business and languages.

The company says its courses have been undertaken by five million students worldwide, and Shaw Academy employs more than 60 staff in its offices in Dublin, India and South Africa.

The e-learning business booked a profit of €710,000 in 2017, bringing accumulated losses back to €2.7m, according to CRO filings. Total liabilities in the firm at end 2017 stood at €7.7m; this figure had reportedly grown to €9.5m by January 2019.

Shaw Academy’s largest creditor, Columbia Lake Partners Growth Lending, pressed the firm to repay nearly €4.7m in funds that were due for repayment in November 2018. The Irish e-learning firm applied for court protection in January 2019, with Stephen Tennant of Grant Thornton taking on the examinership role.

Columbia Lake Partners is believed to be in line to receive around one-quarter of the €5.6m it is owed by Shaw Academy. However, unsecured creditors look set to recoup only 5% of what they're owed, while former shareholders will receive 1% of their €450,00 worth of loans provided to Shaw Academy.

“Each of the experienced investors’ contributions is an endorsement of our potential and objective of providing higher education at lower cost to a global audience,” Egan stated. “The company now has ample capital, world-class investors and a highly focused management team. We are very excited about what the future holds for Shaw Academy.”

KPMG Corporate Finance advised Shaw Academy through the restructuring process.