Coursera said on Wednesday it will buy Udemy in an all-stock deal that values the merged group at $2.5 billion, pushing the two companies into one large platform as the online learning industry deals with slower demand and tougher investor pressure.
The agreement comes after both firms spent the past year trying to hold on to market share while their stocks slipped far from the highs they saw after going public.
Udemy shareholders will get 0.8 Coursera shares for each share they hold. Reuters calculated that this values Udemy at about $930 million.
Coursera’s stock rose about 4% after the announcement, while Udemy jumped nearly 22% as traders reacted to the premium baked into the offer.
The implied price comes out to $6.35 per Udemy share, about 18.3% above its previous close. Both sides expect to finish the deal in the second half of next year, but it still needs approval from regulators and shareholders.
Tracking the deal’s motives and market reaction
Coursera and Udemy say the combined platform will help them win more business from companies that want to train workers in artificial intelligence, data science, and software development, especially as firms try to reskill teams during fast changes in generative AI.
Coursera already works with universities and institutions to offer degree programs and professional certificates, and it has been shifting more of its focus toward enterprise customers.
Udemy runs a marketplace of independent instructors who sell their own courses and also gives businesses subscription access to training material. The two groups say this mix gives them a stronger position when pitching large companies.
Stephen Sheldon, an analyst at William Blair, said “at a high level it seems like this deal makes sense both strategically and financially,” adding that the two firms have “complementary content offerings and solutions” and that the overlap in their customer base could create “significant cost synergies.”
Even with companies talking up the need for AI skills, investors have stayed careful with online learning stocks. Udemy’s stock has crashed by 35% year-to-date, while Coursera is down roughly 7%, leaving both trading far below the peaks they hit after their IPOs.
Coursera and Udemy are gambling that size will help them push through the slowdown. They want a single platform big enough to land corporate contracts and broad enough to keep users inside one ecosystem instead of bouncing across different training sites.
Whether the deal convinces investors is still unknown, but the two companies have tied their futures to a belief that employers will keep spending on AI training even as other parts of the market cool.
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