Coursera to buy Udemy, creating $2.5 billion firm to target AI training

Online education platform Coursera (COUR.N) said on Wednesday it would buy rival Udemy (UDMY.O) in an all-stock deal, valuing the combined company at $2.5 billion, as the industry consolidates after a post-pandemic slowdown and heightened investor scrutiny.

Udemy shareholders would receive 0.8 shares of Coursera for each held, valuing the company at about $930 million, according to Reuters calculations. Coursera shares were up about 8%, while Udemy jumped nearly 28%.

Coursera and Udemy bet that a combined platform will be better positioned to capture corporate demand for workforce training, particularly in artificial intelligence, data science and software development, as employers invest in reskilling workers amid rapid advances in generative AI.