On Monday, September 10, SimpleTuition, made its acquisition of ValoreBooks public knowledge. There were no details of the exact purchase price but it is certain that the deal involved cash and stock. SimpleTuition got its start in 2006 and gives college and university students a host of services including online tools, tips and advice to save money on their expenses. The buyout of ValoreBooks, which is an online textbook marketplace that offers discounts on both new and used textbooks for rental or sale, will help expand the number of educational expense saving services SimpleTuition offers.
SimpleTuition’s most popular service is its “Loan Comparison” tool. This allows students to compare and contrast different educational loans from both the private and federal sector. Students can choose from a large range of funding providers like Wells Fargo, SallieMae, PNC and SunTrust. SimpleTuition has other services including advice on how to keep student debt in check, financial planning and online checking accounts. The company did find itself in hot water when it first started because it was accused of giving college counselors gifts and not giving more details on loans. The company has now moved beyond those early problems and expects 6.3 million visitors to its site this year.
ValoreBooks was started in 2002 and is actually older than SimpleTuition. The online text book marketplace is not the largest one in the sector by does have 18 million titles from 20,000 sellers in its database and expects close to 5.5 million visitors for 2012.
Interestingly, ValoreBooks has been on the edge of profitability ever since it was created and has never taken outside funding but the firm is expected to make a profit in 2012. On the other hand, SimpleTuition has put together $17 million of venture capital and may have used this cash pile to grab ValoreBooks. Overall the deal looks like a win-win situation for both companies, especially with expectation that eBook giant Amazon is jumping into the textbook rental sector.
Source: TechCrunch
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