Newsletter

LBMC is pleased to announce that we acted as exclusive merger and acquisition (M&A) representatives for the owners/members of Athena LLC in a recent ownership transition of Athena (The Training Professionals to Elite Educational Holdings Inc d/b/a Athena The Training Professionals). This successful business transition involved a market-leading information technology (IT) training business, extraordinary business sellers, and well-qualified and passionate business buyers.

Athena (www.athenaclc.com) serves the IT training needs of hundreds of well-known corporate and governmental entities across the Southeast with physical offices in Tennessee, Alabama as well as onsite training at client's facilities. The company is currently in the process of expanding to Kentucky and then overseas to Germany. The Athena business model ensures that clients receive world-class technology training from some of the most qualified IT experts from around the country.

The former owners, Marc and Juliane Curvin, have enjoyed a history of success even before they started Athena. Marc held senior leadership positions at a series of start-up ventures that were ultimately purchased by large corporate concerns. Post-close, Marc, a Vanderbilt biomedical engineer by training, is taking a vacation and then will complete the medical doctorate he began at Vanderbilt University Medical Center prior to the .com revolution. Juliane, a forestry engineer who trained in the Amazonian rain forest will continue her studies of nature, digitally cataloging the landscapes of South America and the world on her travels with Marc.

The Principals of Elite Educational Holdings Inc. are Benny and Jackie Ball. Both have extensive professional careers including tenures with Shoney's Inc, 13 years and 22 years respectively. They have a proven record of understanding the human capital impact during acquisition activities; Benny and Jackie created Elite Educational Holdings Inc after 25 years of experience with NYSE companies. Their expertise encompasses training, and leadership development. Benny Ball is a national speaker on human resource and training issues. He serves as an instructor for the Professional Human Resources and the Senior Professional Human Resources Certification Programs with the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM). He has conducted HR classes at Vanderbilt University, Middle Tennessee State University and Western Kentucky University.

LBMC's M&A/Business Transition Group has exclusively represented more than $260,000,000 worth of business transactions in the last seven years. Our approach to managing a successful business transaction is unique. We integrate internal resources of our 450-person firm with those of our clients' existing professionals. Lattimore Black Morgan & Cain, PC is the seventh largest accounting and financial services firm in the Southeast.

For more information on the LBMC M&A Group, please call or email us. We welcome the opportunity to speak with you.

David Wood, CPA, 615.309.2302, dwood@LBMC.com
Dave Power, 615.309.2322, dpower@LBMC.com

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