Learnlight, the global language, intercultural skills and soft skills training provider, has acquired Arenalingua, a leading German language training company, as part of its European expansion strategy.

The acquisition, backed by Beech Tree Private Equity and Learnlight's management team, follows Learnlight's merger of Ispeakuspeak and Training Express and the subsequent acquisition of Communicaid nearly two years ago. The Arenalingua acquisition consolidates Learnlight's position in the German market, where it already has Blue Chip clients such as Siemens and Deutsche Telekom.

Arenalingua was founded in 2003 and has offices in key commercial centres in Germany comprising Frankfurt, Hamburg, Cologne, Munich and Stuttgart.

The acquisition will bring the total number of trainers at Learnlight to over 3,000 trainers, training over 150,000 learners per year in more than 150 countries. Arenalingua's client base includes global companies such as Sky, Ernst & Young and Adidas, which perfectly complement Learnlight's existing client base.

Additionally, Arenalingua offers Government-sponsored English language courses for employees in a blended learning format, German training for professionals in specialist areas such as medicine, healthcare or engineering and German training for qualified migrants.

Benjamin Joseph CEO of Learnlight said: "We are thrilled to have acquired Arenalingua. Arenalingua is a company which shares our obsession with quality and will be a perfect platform for us to continue our work with large German companies on their path towards digital transformation. We also consider this to be an ideal time for this acquisition as the German market is becoming increasingly receptive to digital and virtual training."

Rüdiger Rettberg, former owner of Arenalingua, said: "I am delighted that the quality and the concept of Arenalingua will now continue within the Learnlight Group. Learnlight and Arenalingua have been cooperating as trusted partners for the last 10 years and have both shared the focus on measurable results and the satisfaction of clients and learners. Through Learnlight, Arenalingua will now have, at its disposal, the full portfolio of a leading blended platform for delivering digital and virtual programmes, as well as comprehensive global coverage. This, together with the market expertise of Arenalingua, ideally positions Learnlight for exponential growth."

Learnlight's existing German expertise was recently recognised with a Gold Award from Chief Learning Officer for Learnlight's work with Deutsche Telekom.