SALT LAKE CITY - (Business Wire)- FranklinCovey announced today that on December 31, 2008, it acquired CoveyLink Worldwide, LLC (“CoveyLink”), a growing boutique consultancy that trains organizations to establish, measure and grow trust with all stakeholders, thus increasing the speed of business and reducing costs.
FranklinCovey amends its existing intellectual property license with CoveyLink and now becomes the exclusive, worldwide licensee of all its intellectual content and training concepts, which are based on The SPEED of Trust, the New York Times bestselling book authored by Stephen M. R. Covey. With this acquisition, the company launches its new global trust practice.
CoveyLink Worldwide was founded by Stephen M.R. Covey and business partner, Greg Link, a leadership, sales, and marketing expert. The company developed training courses, assessment instruments, and application tools based on The Speed of Trust, which was one of the most widely, read books by executives in 2007 (CEORead.com).
The Speed of Trust was a New York Times, USA Today, BusinessWeek, and Wall Street Journal (#1) bestseller in 2008. It has remained on the New York Times and BookScan bestseller lists for nearly one year, and is already being published in 20 languages, including Chinese, German, Japanese, and Arabic. The Speed of Trust has become a global phenomenon as evidenced by the demand for Stephen M.R. Covey to present its concepts in more than 25 international cities, including Beijing, Singapore, Zurich, Bangalore, Jeddah, London, Sydney, Tokyo, Sao Paulo, and many others. In September 2008, Stephen M.R. Covey presented to the Young Global Leaders at the World Economic Forum’s Summer Davos in Beijing. He participated in a general session table discussion, where a “Crisis of Trust and Confidence” was voted the #1 challenge facing organizations in the coming year.
Stephen M.R. Covey and Greg Link will now join FranklinCovey to lead the company’s global Speed of Trust practice, and will direct the practice’s sales and marketing of the corporate training, products and services previously provided by CoveyLink. The two have presented The Speed of Trust to more than 200 audiences and executive teams, including U.S. Navy Admirals, The World Economic Forum, Intel, Frito Lay, Eli Lilly, Lenovo, Microsoft, American Hospital Association, and Aramark. They will continue to give keynote addresses based on The Speed of Trust, and will assist FranklinCovey in making the content available to their clients in 147 countries.
The Speed of Trust has been endorsed by CEOs of numerous leading companies including: Campbell Soup, Ernst & Young, Marriott International, Ritz Carlton Hotels, Dell Computer, EDS, Jet Blue, Hard Rock Café, Sbarro, TORO, DBS Bank Ltd., Huntsman International, Madison Square Garden, and Singapore Airlines.
Bob Whitman, CEO of FranklinCovey, said, “Whatever the strategic initiative, the chances for success increase dramatically when you start with high trust. This fact, along with the tremendous success of The Speed of Trust and their strong client base, made CoveyLink an attractive acquisition for FranklinCovey. We now combine both of our sales forces to offer this extraordinary content to the marketplace, adding the discipline of trust to our existing practices, and thereby offering our clients yet another strategic solution to achieve greatness within their organization.”