14 Facts About SoftKey

SoftKey International was a software company founded by Kevin O'Leary in 1986 in Toronto, Ontario.

SoftKey played a major role in the dissolution of the edutainment industry by the turn of the millennium.

SoftKey published and distributed CD-ROM-based personal computer software for Windows and Macintosh computers during the late 1980s and 1990s.

SoftKey enjoyed great success by offering "jewel-case only" products, dubbed as the "Platinum" line.

SoftKey began to develop its own software by 1994, and had branched out to include edutainment games and CD-ROMs in its line of products.

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In 1986, SoftKey released specialized graphics package KeyChart for the IBM PC and compatibles, designed to make time-consuming plotting easier.

In October 1995, SoftKey had 10 centers in cities in Europe, Asia, Canada, and the United States.

SoftKey built a business by acquiring struggling software companies, repackaging and repricing its products.

SoftKey continued to grow, with revenue of $800 million despite an accumulated deficit of $1.

SoftKey convinced other companies to bundle SoftKey's products with their own, later licensing software from other firms, which proved more cost-effective than internal development.

In 1993, SoftKey International was created out of a three-way merger between SoftKey Software Products, WordStar International, and Spinnaker Software.

In October 1995, SoftKey initiated a bidding war against Broderbund for Learning Company, launching a hostile offer valued at $606 million.

SoftKey announced it had agreed to buy the Minnesota Educational Computing Corporation for $370 million, throwing wrench into Broderbund's offer.

The next day, SoftKey agreed to acquire Compton's New Media Inc from Tribune for stock valued at $106.