Coursera has agreed to acquire Udemy in a stock-for-stock transaction that will combine two large online learning platforms with consumer and enterprise businesses.
Under the terms of the deal, each Udemy share will be exchanged for 0.800 Coursera shares. Following the transaction, Coursera shareholders will own approximately 59% of the combined company, while Udemy shareholders will own about 41%. The merged company will continue operating as Coursera, Inc., headquartered in Mountain View, California. Greg Hart will remain CEO, and Coursera’s Andrew Ng will serve as chairman. The companies expect the transaction to close in the second half of 2026, subject to shareholder approval and regulatory clearances.
Coursera’s platform is built around partnerships with universities, institutions, and industry organizations, with a focus on credentialed learning programs. Udemy operates an open marketplace of instructors and provides training programs used by enterprise customers. The combined company is expected to offer academic courses, professional skills training, and enterprise learning programs through a single platform.
The companies report a combined total of more than 270 million registered learners and nearly 19,000 enterprise customers. Coursera contributes institutional partnerships and credential-focused offerings, while Udemy contributes a large instructor marketplace and a broad enterprise customer base. Udemy generates a majority of its revenue outside North America, while Coursera generates a larger share of revenue in the United States.
If completed, the transaction will bring together institutional learning programs and an open instructor marketplace within a single company.
General reaction online was surprise, with Udemy instructor unsure about where he stood, writing on X:
“I can’t tell what this acquisition by Coursera means for my future as a Udemy instructor. Time will tell.
I will definitely keep on teaching – on one platform or another.But learning that a brand that was THE main part of my professional life for the last 10 years will go away is really very, very sad.”
Read more at the Coursera website:
Coursera to combine with Udemy
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