Riverdeep Plans to Buy Edmark Corp., IBM's Educational Software Division, for $85 Million.(Brief Article)

In a move aimed at further expanding the company's reach in the U.S. K-8 market, Ireland-based Riverdeep Group plc recently agreed to buy the assets of Edmark Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of IBM, in a deal valued at about $85 million.

Under the terms of the agreement, Riverdeep will use about 4.6 million shares of stock, valued at $85 million, to acquire Edmark. Upon completion of the transaction, IBM will hold approximately 14 percent of Riverdeep's stock.

The 30-year-old Edmark publishes more than 50 educational titles focused on the K-8 school and consumer market, but since IBM bought it nearly four years ago the company has generally languished and IBM's deep …