Blackboard (BBBB) alerts a new deal

With the Virginia Tech massacre last year, universities certainly understand the extreme importance of security. As a result, notification systems – which can deal with things like cell phones, SMS, email and so on – are top-of-mind for chief information officers in universities.

The leading provider of notification services for educational institutions is NTI Group. This week NTI Group agreed to sell itself to Blackboard (NASDAQ: BBBB), a leading provider of learning management systems for universities. The deal amounts to about $182 million (there is also an earnout for $17 million).

With Blackboard's large customer base, there should be a large cross-selling opportunity. Besides, it will help the company's mobile efforts (after all, students are big-time users of cell phones and PDAs).

According to a report from the Yankee Group, the notification and alert market is expected to reach about $1.2 billion by 2011 (which translates into a 30% annual growth rate). Although, in the case of NTI, the company's growth rate is more than 50% per annum (the revenues last year were about $30 million).

Interestingly enough, NTI has a strong presence in the K12 market. This should be a nice boost for Blackboard, which is targeting this category.

In other words, this deal looks like a great fit -- and could help continue the nice growth ramp for Blackboard.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates DealProfiles.com.