Forum Corporation

AchieveForum, Formerly The Forum Corporation
Company type	Wholly owned subsidiary
Industry	Management consulting, Corporate Training and Development
Founded	1971; 53 years ago
Headquarters	Boston, United States
Area served	North America, EMEA, Asia Pacific
Key people	Russell Becker, CEO ; Cindy Stuckey, Managing Director, EMEA; Mike Wirth, Managing Director, North America ; Shail Chotai, Global Head of Operations
Website	www.achieveforum.com

The Forum Corporation is a learning and consulting company.^[2]

History

Early years

Forum was founded in 1971. Five partners, several of whom had recently graduated from Harvard Business School, initially self-funded the startup.^[3] By 1982 it was ranked 362 on the Inc. 500 list of the fastest growing private companies in America,^[4] with 170 employees and 40 part-time instructors.^[5] As clients moved, the company began conducting operations overseas in the late 1970s.^[6]

Acquisitions

On June 30, 2000,^[7] Forum accepted an offer by Pearson, a London-based media conglomerate, to purchase Forum for US$90 million (GBP 60 million) in cash. Pearson intended to merge Forum with FT Knowledge to generate sales of US$110 million in its first year. Forum Chairman and CEO John Humphrey oversaw the integration as chairman of an international advisory board while FT Knowledge CEO Pippa Wicks became the CEO of the new company.^[8] Forum executive vice president Jennifer Potter-Brotman was promoted to CEO of Forum, as Pearson wished to keep senior Forum managers and preserve brand identity.^[7] After Forum shareholders unanimously approved the purchase, and the Federal Trade Commission approved the deal on July 10, the official announcement was released August 3.^[9]

In July 2002, the Institute for International Research (IIR) expressed interest in purchasing Forum, and as FT Knowledge began consolidating Pearson decided to launch negotiations that November. A final deal was signed on January 13, 2003, selling Forum to IIR for US$30 million.^[10] IIR was purchased itself in 2005 by the British publisher and conference company Informa.^[11]

In October 2013, Providence Equity Partners acquired Forum and four sister companies from Informa, and is now part of Providence Corporate Development Holding Company's business portfolio.^[12] In 2015, Forum's parent company was renamed Twenty Eighty.^{[citation needed]}

In 2015, Forum acquired Kenexa Insight from IBM. This offering was a research base built over 30 years of studying high performance. This acquisition was the foundation of the Talent Analytics and Assessment service within the organization.^[13]

Business

Forum provides learning in three main areas: leadership, sales and sales management, and Talent Analytics and Talent Assessment .^[14]

References

^ "Forum People: Executive Team". Forum. Archived from the original on 2016-07-01. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
^ "Our Clients". Forum. Archived from the original on 2008-02-11. Retrieved 2008-03-30.
^ McGrady, Suzanne (1996-11-22). "Forum Corp. chairman sees time when training, work will coincide". Boston Business Journal. Retrieved 2008-02-08.
^ "No. 362 Forum Corp. of North America". Inc. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
^ Fowler, Elizabeth M. (1982-06-23). "Careers; Training: A Growth Industry". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
^ Evans, Steve (1997-11-12). "Pioneer of training notes changing times". The Dominion. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
^ ^a ^b "Pearson Unit FT Knowledge To Acquire Forum Corp. For $90M". Lifelong Learning Market Report. 2000-07-12. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
^ Harding, James (2000-07-07). "COMPANIES & FINANCE: UK: Pearson expands in education market MEDIA GROUP PAYS Dollars 90M FOR THE FORUM CORPORATION TO GAIN MARKET SHARE IN NORTH AMERICA". Financial Times. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
^ "FT Knowledge, Forum Corp. Finalize Deal, Join to Create Leading Corporate Training and e-Learning Co". PR Newswire. 2000-08-03. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
^ "Institute For International Research Buys Forum Corp. For Estimated $30M; Pearson Consolidates". Lifelong Learning Market Report. 2003-02-07. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
^ "T&F Informa buys conferences group IIR Holdings for 768 mln stg". Forbes. AFX News Limited. 2007-06-01. Archived from the original on November 21, 2008. Retrieved 2007-12-31.
^ "Informa.com - Informa PLC: Disposal of its five Corporate Training businesses". Archived from the original on 2014-08-06. Retrieved 2014-08-06.
^ "Business Challenges - Forum". Archived from the original on 2016-06-09. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
^ "Services and Solutions: Forum Capabilities". Forum. Retrieved 2016-06-23.