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External Version – Hansen Chapter 11 Emergence Video Script
I’m delighted that as of today, Cengage Learning has completed its financial restructuring,
and is now out of Chapter 11.
We successfully completed this process in just under 9 months, and I’m absolutely
confident in the results that we’ve achieved.
There are a few key positive changes for us as a result of our exit.
First and foremost, we have reduced the debt load of the company, by more than $4 billion
and, therefore reduced our interest payments dramatically. We have also secured exit financing
and have excellent liquidity, placing us in a strong position to invest in the business
going forward. We have a new Board composed of our major equity holders, all of whom have
reviewed and approved our go-forward business plans. In addition, we have appointed 3 independent
Board members, who will bring additional expertise and perspective to the company. Without a
doubt, Cengage's capital structure is truly fit for purpose.
But what I’m most proud and excited about is how we have transformed our business during
the Chapter 11 process.
We have completely revamped our product delivery model with an integrated structure between
product and technology. This has already yielded significant improvements in our existing homework
solutions and pilots are being tested for our new courseware products.
We have reinvigorated our go-to-market approach, enabling the sales and marketing organization
to swiftly help our customers when business opportunities emerged. Most importantly, we
have started to change the culture of Cengage with our mantra of Focus, Collaboration, and
Speed across all parts of the organization.
The recent opening of our new San Francisco space is one visible manifestation of our
new culture.
The results of our efforts are indisputable.
Our current customers and users have rewarded our efforts with a high degree of loyalty
to our products and services. We are attracting new customers through a combination of excellent
content quality, user-friendly digital solutions and personalized service.
Very talented individuals who share our vision of the future and our passion for the transformation
of learning have joined us in record numbers.
Most importantly, Cengage is a confident, global organization with a strong balance
sheet, knowing that we have achieved a lot under difficult circumstances, but aware that
the bigger part of the journey is still ahead of us. Chapter 11 was only one step in our
transformation.
Over the next months and years, we at Cengage will continue to get closer to our customers
and end-users, actively drive our process improvements, focus on building our culture,
and set a very high bar for ourselves every day.
There is no doubt, Cengage Learning is on the right path, and will bring industry-leading
solutions and services to market that will transform learning.
Thank you.