NewswireTODAY - /newswire/ - Nottingham, Notts, United Kingdom, 2008/10/20 - One of the UK’s leading e-learning businesses, Atlantic Link Limited, has announced a significant investment deal enabling the company to take full advantage of their recently acquired foothold in the American marketplace.

One of the UK’s leading e-learning businesses, Atlantic Link Limited, has announced a significant investment deal with equity firm Catapult. The deal will enable the company to take full advantage of their recently acquired foothold in the American marketplace at a time when investment in training is becoming increasingly important.

The company, which is based in Nottingham, has developed a unique, collaborative rapid e-learning suite which enables non-programmers to design and deliver professional on-line training to thousands of employees. The company already has over 100 clients including BT, Waitrose, Daimler Chrysler HSBC, Santander and Barclays.

The investment of capital from Midlands based Catapult, who are acquiring a 14% stake in the business, will enable the Atlantic Link management team to expand further into the U.S. from an existing base in Atlanta, Georgia. The company has already established itself in the US with clients including the Royal Bank of Canada, Alcon Labs, Fleishman-Hillard, Affiliated Foods, Elavon NOVA, NiSource, The VGM Group and Pella Windows.

Managing Director of Atlantic Link Mike Alcock said: “This investment ensures we are able to capitalise on what is a rapidly growing market for e-learning tools in the U.S. We have now been able to employ 3 world class sales people, covering the whole of the U.S. and a full time U.S. marketing specialist."

“The current economic climate has put further emphasis on the need for compliance to strict regulations both in this country and in the U.S. Therefore having the ability to create training content and deliver it within weeks, through our product, enables organisations to react quickly to changes in the marketplace."

Pete Le Noury, Investment Director at Catapult, said: “We have been impressed with how Atlantic Link has developed a suite of innovative products which they have proven are both easy to use and can save their Blue Chip customers money. We are backing them to further extend their UK customer base but, more importantly, to fund entry into the very significant US rapid e-learning market.”

Regional law firm Geldards advised on the deal, Partner Hugh Strickland commented “This is an especially pleasing deal to do at this time. To advise a company with such a sound business plan, and who have built such a successful business from scratch just 4 years ago, means we are very proud to be associated with them and of the work we have done for them.”

David Smith from Nottingham based accountants Cooper Parry, who undertook financial due diligence on behalf of Catapult, added “We were delighted to assist both the Company and Catapult on this transaction and believe that the investment will greatly assist the Company in its continued expansion”.

About Atlantic Link
Founded in 2002, Atlantic Link (atlantic-link.co.uk) provides the world's most advanced rapid elearning collaboration tools. The aim for the company is to develop leading-edge eLearning solutions that elevate the practice of collaborative rapid eLearning development. As a leading provider of collaborative authoring tools, the idea of creating and nurturing a community – of fostering beneficial conversations among like-minded SME’s (subject matter experts) – is central to their mission. With the Atlantic Link software, anyone who can use a computer can create stunning e-learning and unleash the knowledge locked within themselves and their organizations.

Atlantic Link's software solutions - Capture Point™, Content Point™, ICMS™ and Knowledge Point™ - are world leaders in their application and technology approach, and the company has a significant lead over its competition in this field. Product development for the current range of products has been completed, and the products are highly marketable, with ongoing developments targeted at feature addition and enhancement to capture customer and future market needs.

Atlantic Link Contact: Mike Alcock, mike.alcock[.]atlantic-link.co.uk, +44 (0)115 906 1375.

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