by Darcey Leach

Grace Hill, an innovator of talent and customer management solutions for commercial and multi-family real estate, announced today that it has acquired Edge2Learn, an e-learning company providing training and policy management solutions in the multifamily industry, and Ellis Partners in Management Solutions (“Ellis”), a provider of mystery shopping and resident and employee survey solutions.  Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Edge2Learn and Ellis provide e-learning as well as policy, survey, mystery shopping and data-driven insights to help property owners and operators retain top talent and improve property operating and financial performance.  The companies have established a deep stable of industry leading content with over 600 online training courses that serve multi-family rental communities, including conventional, affordable, student and senior markets.  Together, the combined company will provide a next-generation employee and property intelligence platform that maximizes an employee’s potential and a company’s bottom line.

“Edge2Learn and Ellis share our commitment to developing best-in-class training, mystery shopping and management solutions to help leading real estate operators and owners increase property performance, reduce operating risk and grow and develop employees,” said Kendall Pretzer, CEO of Grace Hill.  “By bringing our resources together, we will create a clear leader in the industry, enabling us to further deliver on our mission to improve employee performance and development while delivering important insights to owners and operators.  I look forward to working with Joanna, Francis and the rest of the Edge2Learn and Ellis teams to continue advancing the innovative tools we offer the multi-family and commercial real estate industries.”

“Grace Hill, Edge2Learn and Ellis have established well-deserved reputations as leaders in real estate training and customer feedback,” said Joanna Ellis, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Edge2Learn and Ellis.  “We are excited to partner with the Grace Hill and Aurora teams to create a one-of-a-kind company that understands and continues to prioritize the needs of our combined customer base.”  

“This combination will allow us to leverage the best of both companies,” added Francis Chow, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Edge2Learn and Ellis.  “Together, we will combine the best talent and integrated solutions to provide exceptional service to our customers with an expanded product portfolio, all while investing in new and innovative solutions to continue to address our customers’ most critical operating challenges.”

“We identified Grace Hill as a unique market leader with significant growth potential, and this is exactly the type of transformative transaction we look to execute early in our hold period,” said Rob Fraser, Partner at Aurora.  “The combination of these leading businesses and management teams will enhance long-standing customer relationships through a larger suite of scalable management and training solutions and deeper customer service capabilities, and we will invest aggressively to continue to be the innovation leader in the market.”

Since partnering with Aurora in May 2021, Grace Hill has enhanced its management team with the appointment of Kendall Pretzer as CEO in May 2021 and the addition of Charles Loop as Chief Financial Officer, Todd Harkness as Chief Revenue Officer, Rob Beauchampas Chief Product Officer and Traci Johnson as Chief Marketing Officer. 

Massumi + Consoli LLP and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP served as legal advisors to Grace Hill.