The purpose of this site is to assist a strategic buyer in engaging with National Training Systems, Inc. in a process that leads to an investment or acquisition. Our unique Discovery process starts with a qualified buyer selecting from a range of business collaboration arrangements below. When the potential buyer is ready, next comes the traditional Letter of Intent, an additional Due Diligence step, a Closing step, and finally a transition phase with all needed support. Please read the following information carefully. You will find we are very easy to work with.
It is important that you have worked with, tested or marketed our FlexTraining flagship product before making an offer. That is the purpose of the discovery / collaboration step as outlined below. See A Path To Completion
Serious Investors Only: We will only consider an acquisition offer from a company that has worked with us, using one of the engagement options below.
National Training Systems is seeking to be acquired by a larger company, a strategic buyer. Such an event would assist the company to grow in terms of customer acquisition and services offered. This page describes collaboration (initial due diligence) options - the path to an acquisition - that a prospective buyer will employ to evaluate the fit between companies and gain expertise in the learning technology industry.
The old acquisition process is what we called the "Big Bang" concept. A self-described "buyer" swoops in, demands a raft of detailed proprietary financial information, examines it in secret, and then fades away. Or blindly creates an offer with only historical financial data and no clue about the product or how to operate in the learning technology marketplace. The seller was viewed as an "Information ATM" rather than a business partner. Since it's a waste of time, we don't utilize this kind of process.
We have received several generous offers from companies who did not really understand the industry and learning technology in general. They wanted to skip the critical collaboration step, and go straight to an offer and closing. And so they did not appreciate the dynamic, growing e-learning space and how the tools we supply to the market make it all possible. In each case, the buyer's acquisition project failed because they tried to do everything at once, to complete the entire objective in one transaction.
If you are serious about an acquisition, we require that you begin with one of the engagement/collaboration programs listed below. In this way, you will engage with us, to learn about the company and the industry hands-on. You will use our FlexTraining system to create online courses and/or acquire customers.
At the same time, we will build for you a 3-year revenue and profit "pro forma" based on an optimum fee schedule and your capacity to expand sales. We will also develop a customized "transition plan" which will help you organize your growth strategy and tactics. In a highly-leveraged industry - like software and application hosting - modest improvements in sales drive large increases in net income, as you know.
Whichever starting point you select, you will have experience with the FlexTraining learning platform and the learning technology industry, along with revenue and transition plans, in order to formulate an offer or an LOI.
You will choose one of the above programs and engage for a month, a quarter, a year, or as long as you like. This creates a business relationship and positions you for a potential investment or acquisition process. And it provides the experience you need to decide on additional engagement or investment in the learning technology space.
The result of these engagement programs is an investor or buyer with the product knowledge, industry experience and overall perspective needed to make a good decision. Whether it's an offer or a complete change in direction, the next move can be made with confidence. It just makes sense.
Once you have established yourself with one of the engagement options above, you will be considered a serious buyer candidate and we can provide inside information and company details. If you are not ready to engage at this time, we will keep your information on file while we work with other candidates.
Before you have established yourself in one of the engagement options, we don't release any internal or proprietary information, naturally. But you are welcome to review a wealth of publicly-available information on our web site. In particular:
Which markets and verticals has FlexTraining been used in?
FlexTraining has been deployed in all markets for private sector, public sector, and non-profit organizations. It is a perfect fit for projects of all sizes, is fully scalable and easily extensible.
Which engagement option from those listed above will give us the most knowledge and experience?
The "Collaboration" options - level one and level two - provide the best experiences. Level one allows you to sell and deliver online education and operate the amazing FlexTraining platform. And level two actually puts you in the learning technology business, selling FlexTraining itself to customers in all industries. It's a fantastic preview of what you will experience as a player in the Learning Technology space. This is exactly what you need to help you make an educated decision about an acquisition.
Which engagement options will provide us with a complete FlexTraining site for testing and exploration?
All the options will include a fully-functional installation of the FlexTraining system for your use in course development, testing, demos for customers and educating your team on the vast capabilities of FlexTraining itself.
What happens if we embark on an engagement program and then our situation changes and we decide to drop out after two months?
You can stop at any time. In that case, you will have had 60 days of valuable hands-on experience with a Universal Learning Platform.
If we start in one program, could we potentially move to a higher level after a period of time?
We pride ourselves on being easy to do business with. You can upgrade your collaboration level at any time by simply paying the difference, with no penalty fee. and we'll provide the additional training necessary to hit the ground running.
What if we select one of these options and eventually decide we are not interested in an acquisition. What are our options?
The collaboration programs are designed to lead to a potential acquisition. However, you can choose to walk away from everything if you wish. Or you can retain your membership in whatever program you are in, and continue to earn revenue and gain customers, for years. Each program is a self-supported, independent arrangement that you can retain for as long as you like.
What are the startup procedures for each level of engagement?
Follow all the links on this page and you will be well-informed. Then complete the simple form below and we'll get you set up. The important thing is to start now.
What if we want to skip the engagement process altogether and just make an offer on the company?
No thanks. That would be the plan for a "financial buyer", someone who is just looking to buy cash flow. Such a buyer would be better off looking at a yogurt shop, a restaurant, or a child-care business.
This is a turnkey operation with software, infrastructure, and customers already in place. It's a fantastic situation for a buyer with an existing company and a strong sales team.
You will start on day one with two major revenue sources:
This amazing company's operations are well established, and positive factors include: