New Chapter for myON as an Independent Literacy Software Company

• Capstone spins out high-growth myON business unit
• myON announces growth investment from Francisco Partners, a leading technology investment firm
• Francisco Partners committed to investing in myON’s state-of-the-art digital literacy program and using award-winning content from publishing partners like Capstone

(Minneapolis, MN) February 21, 2017 — Capstone, a leading publisher of children’s books and digital reading products and services, announced today that Francisco Partners, a leading technology investment firm, has acquired myON. In conjunction with the transaction, Francisco Partners plans to make a significant growth investment in myON.

Since launching in 2011, myON has established itself as the fastest growing digital literacy company for the K-12 education market. Over 7.5 million students have access to myON throughout 49 states within the United States and 20 countries worldwide. myON students have access to a personalized literacy ecosystem that offers unlimited reading in a curated library of more than 13,000 digital books dynamically matched to each learner’s reading level and interests.

myON earns rave reviews from educators, students, and parents in more than 600 districts across the country and around the world. The company has led major implementations of myON software in some of the country’s largest school districts, including Hillsborough County (Tampa Bay Area), Houston, Miami-Dade County, Clark County (Las Vegas), and the New York City Department of Education. Capstone’s quality titles will continue to power myON’s core content library. In addition, myON offers titles from over 60 premier K-12 publishers and media brands that recognize the power of the myON platform to deliver content to millions of students.

“Schools are increasingly embracing technology to improve learning outcomes, and myON’s digital literacy platform is helping millions of children improve reading skills,” said Jason Brein, Principal at Francisco Partners. “We are excited to partner with myON as it continues to deliver on this important mission.”

“myON is a great example of Capstone’s 25-year track record of innovation in educational publishing. myON has had a significant impact in the education market over the last several years and with this acquisition they are poised to continue their success. This sale allows Capstone to focus, to continue to innovate and to invest in the areas the business has always been most passionate about: creating rich content experiences, both print and digital,” said Tom Ahern, Capstone CEO.

“myON has grown at an extraordinary rate with the support of our former parent company, Capstone. We were able to leverage great content, people, and infrastructure to bring an award-winning personalized literacy solution to the market. In six short years, we have achieved unparalleled growth, and our new relationship with Francisco Partners should accelerate that trajectory even further,” said Todd Brekhus, President of myON. “Our mission has not changed. We are committed to ensuring that every child has access to books to instill a love of reading and learning.”

Wells Fargo Securities served as exclusive financial advisor and Stinson Leonard Street LLP as legal advisor to Capstone. Tyton Partners served as financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis LLP as legal advisor to Francisco Partners.

For more information on myON, visit http://about.myon.com. For more information on Capstone, visit www.myCapstone.com.

About myON
myON has created a personalized digital literacy environment that transforms learning. myON expands the classroom for teachers and students by providing unlimited access to the largest collection of more than 13,000 enhanced digital books with multimedia supports, real-time assessments, and a growing Literacy Toolkit that enhances the myON literacy ecosystem. myON empowers students and teachers with real-time, actionable data—number and type of books opened and read, time spent reading, results of regular benchmark assessments, and more—based on embedded Lexile® assessments that measure student reading and writing growth. With myON, every student experiences the benefits of personalized literacy instruction to propel them to new and unlimited learning opportunities. For more information, visit http://about.myon.com.

About Capstone
Capstone is a leading publisher of children’s books, digital solutions and services, literacy programs, and K–12 professional development resources. Capstone creates content and interactive experiences in a variety of print, digital and blended media formats for school libraries, classrooms, and at home reading including the award-winning PebbleGo and PebbleGo Next research databases for elementary schools. For more information, visit www.myCapstone.com.

About Francisco Partners
Francisco Partners is a global private equity firm that specializes in investments in technology companies. Since its launch over a decade ago, FP has raised over $10 billion and invested in more than 150 technology companies, making it one of the most active investors in the industry. The firm invests at all stages of business growth, where the firm’s deep sub-sector knowledge and operational expertise can help a company realize its full potential.