Silverchair

Silverchair Holdings, located on the Downtown Mall, sold one of its subsidiaries last week to a California based financial group. CEO Thane Kerner said the company plans to stay in Charlottesville, and the sale will result in new capital and job openings. (Photo by Will Kerner)

Local company Silverchair Holdings announced last week that it sold Silverchair Learning Systems (SLS), a leading designer of online training products for the senior care industry, to the California based financial group Vista Equity Partners.

Under its new management, SLS will remain in Charlottesville and fill several new positions, according to CEO Thane Kerner. Silverchair Holdings will use the divestiture proceeds to inject new capital into Silverchair Information Systems, its other subsidiary.

SIS partners with publishers to transfer print content to digital and produce online platforms to expedite research and learning. For example, medical students can take practice exams in preparation for the USMLE on Silverchair’s platform. The system evaluates the answers, and crafts a personalized reading list for each student, with specific sections of chapters and pieces of articles he or she should read based on which questions were missed.

“That’s just an example of using technology to improve an educational outcome,” said Kerner. “There’s no privilege to print over that.”

The sale, according to Kerner, gives Silverchair new growth potential, and the company has no plans to leave Charlottesville any time soon. He said most of their clients are in New York and Philadelphia, but end users like students and medical professionals are worldwide. He said he sees no reason to leave the city, regardless of growth.

Aside from being his hometown, Kerner said Charlottesville is “a great place to hire and to live.” The location gives them access to the East Coast, he said, and UVA’s proximity provides a sea of both prospective product users and employees.

Kerner said this sale came at the right time, and everybody involved will benefit from the change.

“We have lots of talent and the market has responded well, so we want to goose it,” he said.