SAN FRANCISCO, CA (January 18, 2011) – Littler Mendelson, P.C. (Littler), the nation's largest employment and labor law firm representing management, is pleased to announce that it is partnering with The Riverside Company, a leading global private equity firm, in the expansion of Littler affiliate, ELT, which provides employers with online training in critical workplace compliance issues.
The partnership signals the enormous success of ELT, which has soared in popularity since it was created by Littler in 1997 to provide employees and managers with e-learning on some of the workplace's most challenging compliance issues. Littler has collaborated exclusively with ELT to create state-of-the art online courses that cover the latest trends, including wage and hour, union activities, harassment and discrimination, as well as ethics and code of conduct education. To date, ELT has served more than 2,000 clients and trained more than five million employees.
Littler's partnership with Riverside as a new financial investor will usher in a new, exciting phase in the continued growth of ELT. At the same time, Littler will maintain its exclusive partnership with ELT in designing and developing course content to address the latest trends and most pressing workplace risks.
"Littler has never been more excited about our partnership with ELT and the incredible power of the ELT-Littler alliance to offer clients the most innovative, engaging and effective training solutions available," said Garry Mathiason, founder of ELT and a senior shareholder at Littler.
The new financial venture comes at a time when employers are facing stepped-up government enforcement of workplace rules, rampant litigation, and a shifting, regulatory landscape. Leveraging the firm's incredible breadth of knowledge and experience, Littler and ELT have developed innovative, video-based courses that can be customized to meet the needs of an individual business, and that help to establish powerful legal defenses. Using the most advanced technology and the highest production values, ELT's e-learning programs enable employers to provide both efficient and effective training to large numbers of employees, while creating a valuable evidentiary record of training completion and policy acknowledgement.
"ELT represents the cream of the crop in online workplace compliance training," said Riverside Managing Partner Loren Schlachet. "Their partnership with Littler and unrivaled reputation make the company an ideal platform for growth. With employers facing a tidal wave of compliance challenges, government regulation and private litigation, ELT's unique training solutions are in the highest demand and the company is poised to lead the market."
Littler's agreement to form a long term partnership with the Riverside/ELT group illustrates the commitment of both ELT and Littler in continuing their joint success.
"Riverside's incredible operating expertise, resources and proven track record of success will allow us to realize our vision for growth at ELT," said Shanti Atkins, President & CEO of ELT. "We chose Riverside because of their commitment to truly nurturing entrepreneurial businesses, as well as their sterling reputation for both success and integrity. We are thrilled to continue our exciting expansion with both Riverside and Littler at our side."
Morgan Keegan Technology Group acted as financial advisor and Goodwin Procter acted as legal counsel to ELT in the transaction. For Riverside, Deerpath Capital provided financing, Jones Day was the legal advisor and RSM McGladrey provided financial due diligence.
About ELT (www.elt-inc.com)
ELT provides online training solutions to help employers manage their most important workplace compliance challenges. ELT specializes in the topics that create the greatest legal risks, and where effective employee training can prevent misconduct, establish powerful legal defenses, and help to create a culture of ethics, inclusion and respect. The company focuses on harassment training, ethics training, wage & hour training and EEO training. ELT features legal content from Littler Mendelson, the world's largest employment law firm, and is endorsed by SHRM, the world's largest human resources association. ELT's award-winning courses engage employees with compelling stories drawn from actual cases and real events. Leveraging the latest technology and high-end media, ELT's solutions reflect the level of quality that organizations want to associate with their compliance programs. With more than a decade of market-tested success and millions of employees trained, ELT is trusted by today's most respected employers.
About The Riverside Company (www.riversidecompany.com or www.riversideeurope.com)
The Riverside Company is a global private equity firm focused on acquiring growing enterprises valued at up to $200 million (€200 million in Europe). The firm partners with strong management teams and enhances its investments through acquisitions and organic growth. Since its founding in 1988, Riverside has invested in more than 240 transactions with a total enterprise value of more than $5.4 billion/€4.4 billion. The firm's portfolio in North America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region includes 72 companies with roughly 14,000 employees. Riverside completes acquisitions smoothly thanks to $3.4 billion/€2.7 billion in assets under management, more than 195 professionals in 19 offices, and longstanding relationships with partner lenders.
About Littler Mendelson (www.littler.com)
With over 800 attorneys and 50 offices, Littler Mendelson is the largest U.S.-based law firm exclusively devoted to representing management in employment and labor law matters. As the only U.S. member of the Ius Laboris global alliance, Littler has extensive resources to address the needs of multi-national clients, from navigating international employment laws and labor relations issues to applying corporate policies worldwide. Established in 1942, the firm has litigated, mediated and negotiated some of the most influential employment law cases and labor contracts on record. For more information, visit littler.com.