He guided the floatation of the company on nasdaq and personally acquired a majority shareholding, then sold the company. Ocallaghan had worked as csfbs director of equity capital markets division in london for two years before joining riverdeep in 1999. He formerly led riverdeep for a decade, later known as empg and hmh. As o callaghan expanded riverdeep s network of distribution partners that sold the software to individual schools, ibm became a significant partner in referring business to riverdeep. Riverdeep group plc, an irish educationalsoftware company, announced tuesday that it has completed its acquisition of edmark corp. See the complete profile on linkedin and discover barry s connections and jobs at similar companies. It would also mark a remarkable coup for barry ocallaghan, the 37yearold irish entrepreneur who controls about 65 per cent of riverdeep, alongside other executives of the company and private. Barry ocallaghan born 1969 is a business executive and financier. Ocallaghans leadership, riverdeep went public on nasdaq in 2000 and acquired seven companies including edmark, the learning company and broderbund.
Former riverdeep boss ocallaghan builds new empire. Barry ocallaghan, riverdeeps chairman and ceo, said the transaction seeks to capitalize on the convergence of print and digital education platforms and help riverdeep draw strength from. Riverdeep suspect in share allocation archive irish echo. Concurrent with the houghton acquisition, hmr will also purchase riverdeep holdings ltd. May 29, 2003 an internal riverdeep memo addressed by ceo barry ocallaghan to staff revealed that executive vice president of marketing joe roberts has decided to step down from the company.
Oct 24, 2006 it would also mark a remarkable coup for barry ocallaghan, the 37yearold irish entrepreneur who controls about 65 per cent of riverdeep, alongside other executives of the company and private. Ocallaghan took riverdeep through an initial public offering on nasdaq in 2000, during the height of the dotcom bubble. The riverdeep software manageris an easytouse management system that includes administrative tools to help import and manage student lists and class rosters. Mar 07, 2004 riverdeep founders barry o callaghan and pat mcdonagh are exercising an option to buy out alchemy and mr dells msd within 12 months of the transaction which took the elearning company off the.
Currently he is the chairman and ceo of rise global. He grew the small educational software company into the largest k12. Riverdeep founder pat mcdonagh and ceo barry ocallaghan may wish to remember the date of their companys ipo as triple thursday. Rise global, a world class company with a world class international board. On august 15, 2009, the financial times newspaper reported in an interview with houghton mifflin harcourts ceo, barry ocallaghan, that the refinancing had received approval of more than 90% of lenders. Irish educational software publisher riverdeep to acquire. Founded in 1995, riverdeep was principally the creation of the irish exinvestment banker barry ocallaghan. Irish educationalsoftware firm riverdeep buys edmark for. Prior to march 2010, it was a subsidiary of education media and publishing group limited, an irishowned holding company registered in the cayman islands and formerly known as riverdeep in 1832, william ticknor and john allen purchased. Nov 29, 2006 barry o callaghan, riverdeep s chairman and ceo, said the transaction seeks to capitalize on the convergence of print and digital education platforms and help riverdeep draw strength from.
A textbook case of debt overload and very bad timing the. Callaghans profile on linkedin, the worlds largest professional community. Its payback time for ocallaghan at riverdeep the irish times. Riverdeep and then houghton mifflin harcourt into one of the worlds. In his new role, levy will report to riverdeeps ceo and chairman barry ocallaghan and be responsible for overseeing all educational operations, including sales, marketing, product strategy and academic services. Houghton mifflin harcourt learning technology, originally started as riverdeep interactive learning, is a publishing house for educational online and cdrom products based in san francisco, united states and dublin, ireland. My name is barry o callaghan, and i have been with riverdeep since its inception in 1995. A new, and according to o callaghan, highly profitable education business has been quietly assembled, most recently a venture he has dubbed a new riverdeep, referring to the 1. Riverdeep pursues houghton mifflin financial times. We view these brands as a tremendous fit within both our school and consumer businesses, said barry ocallaghan, riverdeeps chairman and ceo. In his new role, levy will report to riverdeep s ceo and chairman barry o callaghan and be responsible for overseeing all educational operations, including sales, marketing, product strategy and academic services. Houghton mifflin harcourt learning technology wikipedia. A new, and according to ocallaghan, highly profitable education business has been quietly assembled, most recently a venture he has dubbed a new riverdeep, referring to the 1.
The learning company, said barry ocallaghan, riverdeeps chairman and. Houghton mifflins sale to software maker reflects trend. Nov 29, 2006 riverdeep, an irish maker of online educational programs, has purchased the fourthlargest textbook publisher to take its software mainstream. Riverdeeps ocallaghan bets big on education reuters. But the news comes as further embarrassment for the company.
He grew the small educational software company into the largest k12 publishing company in the american education system through a series of acquisitions that were funded by loans. Since 2004 the company has been providing educational computer software. Founded in 1995, riverdeep was principally the creation of the irish exinvestment banker barry o callaghan. Riverdeep founders barry ocallaghan and pat mcdonagh are exercising an option to buy out alchemy and mr dells msd within 12 months of the transaction which took the elearning company off the. Investment bank credit suisse, which had backed riverdeep in the past, is reported to be involved in. From riverdeep to a mountain of debt the irish times. My name is barry ocallaghan, and i have been with riverdeep since its inception in 1995. Riverdeep, an educational software business, is principally the creation of 37yearold exinvestment banker barry ocallaghan. Ibm and riverdeep announce strategic k12 education alliance. Before coming on board at the educational media company mr ocallaghan was an investment banker. Barry ocallaghan took over the role of chief executive at riverdeep, now empg at the age of 30. Riverdeeps ceo, barry ocallaghan, was unavailable for comment. Former investment banker barry ocallaghan 48 opened irelands.
Back then, we began with a vision of anytime, anywhere webbased learning that has since been expanded to meet our current goal of providing you with the most engaging, highestquality, standardsbased software running on a wide variety of platforms. The software can be used on pcs, macintosh and handheld devices. Houghton mifflin harcourt pennys poetry pages wiki fandom. Riverdeeps barry ocallaghan will become executive chairman of hm rivergroup, while tony lucki, chairman, president and chief executive of houghton mifflin, will. Ocallaghan, 38, is the chief executive of houghton mifflin riverdeep group and is its largest investor. On august 15, 2009, the financial times reported in an interview with houghton mifflin harcourts ceo at the time, barry o callaghan, that the refinancing had received approval of more than 90% of lenders. Nov 29, 2006 according to barry o callaghan, executive chairman of hm rivergroup and head of riverdeep, the new company plans to complete the acquisitions before the end of the year. O callaghan has spent almost two decades driving the creation, development and distribution of some of the worlds most widelyused education products and cuttingedge technologies for the classroom and the broader k12 market. The company was formerly known as houghton mifflin company and changed its name following the 2007 acquisition of harcourt publishing. Deals in textbook business make irishman a leader in u. Aug 27, 2002 the software can be used on pcs, macintosh and handheld devices. As ocallaghan expanded riverdeeps network of distribution partners that sold the software to individual schools, ibm became a significant partner in referring business to riverdeep. Nov 29, 2006 riverdeeps barry ocallaghan will become executive chairman of hm rivergroup, while tony lucki, chairman, president and chief executive of houghton mifflin, will become vice chairman.
An internal riverdeep memo addressed by ceo barry ocallaghan to staff revealed that executive vice president of marketing joe roberts has decided to. The learning company, said barry o callaghan, riverdeep s chairman and chief executive officer in a. See the complete profile on linkedin and discover barrys connections and jobs at similar companies. The company was formed last year when riverdeep, based in dublin, combined with. Riverdeep, an irish maker of online educational programs, has purchased the fourthlargest textbook publisher to take its software mainstream. Riverdeep, profit high for alchemy the independent. Sep 07, 2001 barry o callaghan, chief executive of riverdeep, said his company specifically sought to purchase the learning co. A few years later, he bought out founder patrick mcdonagh and became the largest stakeholder.
Chairman and chief executive barry ocallaghan has just 4. Barry ocallaghan looked like a pretty smart guy when money was cheap and credit was easy. According to barry ocallaghan, executive chairman of hm rivergroup and head of riverdeep, the new company plans to complete the acquisitions before the end of the year. Sep 05, 2000 riverdeep group plc, an irish educational software company, announced tuesday that it has completed its acquisition of edmark corp. Houghton mifflin to be bought by hm rivergroup the journal. Concurrent with the acquisition of houghton mifflin, hm rivergroup will acquire riverdeep holdings limited, a leading u.
We are excited about the ability to capitalize on the convergence of print and digital platforms, said barry ocallaghan, riverdeeps chief executive officer. Jan 19, 2010 barry ocallaghan looked like a pretty smart guy when money was cheap and credit was easy. Ocallaghan has spent almost two decades driving the creation, development and distribution of some of the worlds most widelyused education products and cuttingedge technologies for the classroom and the broader k12 market. Nevertheless, barry ocallaghan, the head of irish educational software publisher riverdeep, is apparently chewing over a bid for the business. Barry ocallaghan was as unabashed as only a wily corkman can be. Jesse ray software tester generac power systems linkedin.
Ocallaghan was riverdeeps ceo and controlling shareholder. Our records show it was established in 2004 and incorporated in california. In 1999, he was made ceo of riverdeep, an educational software. On august 15, 2009, the financial times newspaper reported in an interview with houghton mifflin harcourts ceo, barry o callaghan, that the refinancing had received approval of more than 90% of lenders. The terms included the holding company debt converting into 45% of the fully diluted common equity, an effective 25 per cent relaxation of.
Ocallaghan has spent almost two decades driving the creation, development and distribution of some of the worlds most widelyused education products and cuttingedge technologies for the classroom and the broader k. Riverdeep in reverse takeover talks with houghton mifflin. Textbook publisher houghton mifflin will be bought out by newly formed irish firm hm rivergroup plc. Irish educational software maker riverdeep group says chief executive barry ocallaghan and private equity firm alchemy partners bid. Barry o callaghan is a business executive and financier. View barry ocallaghans profile on linkedin, the worlds largest professional community. Welcome to the riverdeep software manager, an integral part of riverdeep network versions. Barry o callaghan is a visionary in the world of education. A new, and according to ocallaghan, highly profitable education business has been quietly assembled, most recently a venture he has dubbed a new. Barry ocallaghan, chief executive of riverdeep, said his company specifically sought to purchase the learning co. In 1999, he was made ceo of riverdeep, an educational software company.
Barry ocallaghan is a business executive and financier. As ocallaghan expanded riverdeeps network of distribution partners that sold the software to individual schools, ibm became a significant partner in referring. Those companies were combined with ocallaghans irish educational software company, riverdeep. We have great admiration for barry ocallaghan and his leadership team. We view these brands as a tremendous fit within both our school and consumer businesses, said barry o callaghan, riverdeep s chairman and ceo. Jan 14, 2010 barry ocallaghan took over the role of chief executive at riverdeep, now empg at the age of 30. The terms included the holding company debt converting into 45% of the. Callaghan s profile on linkedin, the worlds largest professional community. O callaghan was riverdeep s ceo and controlling shareholder.
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