Northbrook private-equity firm to take controlling stake in Tribeca Flashpoint
(Crain's) — Sterling Partners, a Northbrook-based private-equity firm, is buying a controlling stake in Tribeca Flashpoint Media Arts Academy, the Chicago digital media arts college led by Howard Tullman.
The school, which has about 600 students, will use the new capital to expand under the continuing leadership of Mr. Tullman, an entrepreneur who has been CEO and an owner of the academy since operations began in 2007. Terms of the transaction weren't disclosed.
“Educational institutions today must provide their students with the technical and critical-thinking skills required to succeed in a workplace that's increasingly changing, and Tribeca Flashpoint Academy does just that,” said Jason Rosenberg, a Sterling principal.
The school provides students real-world, hands-on experience using digital technology in a two-year program focused on getting them a job. It awards associate's degrees in several disciplines, including film and broadcast, game and interactive media, and plans to add more in September.
“We've got a Chicago investor in a Chicago company and that means that the local company is going to stay right where it is and keep growing,” said Chicago Deputy Mayor Mark Angelson, lauding the new investment.
Sterling Partners, which has about $5 billion in assets under management, concentrates its investments in education, health care and business services and tends to buy into small and mid-market companies.
Mr. Tullman has worked with Sterling in the past, selling a stake in Chicago culinary arts and hospitality school Kendall College to the private-equity firm in the early 2000s.
“I've had a long history with these guys,” Mr. Tullman said of the Sterling partners. “They were on my list from day one as a potential partner.”
New York-based Tribeca Enterprises LLC, the parent company of Tribeca Educational Ventures LLC and the Tribeca Film Festival, became an investor in the academy in 2010 and will continue to own a stake.