Silver Lake is known for its investments in high-profile technology companies like Skype and Groupon as well as for a growing interest in the clean energy sector. But the firm has also been stepping up its presence in the media space. Last year, Silver Lake bought a reported 31 percent stake in Ari Emanuel’s William Morris Endeavour agency, with a specific focus on digital initiatives.

Habiger brings an interesting background to the table for Silver Lake. Before NDS, he was the CEO at Sonic Solutions, where he oversaw the transition from a software-based business to one focused on premium online video. Sonic Solutions ran Cinemanow, one of the first transactional video-on-demand platforms, and ended up powering the premium video offerings of companies like Blockbuster and Best Buy. Sonic Solutions eventually got bought by Rovi for $775 million.

NDS, on the other hand, has been focused on the other end of the premium video market: cable, satellite and IPTV service providers. But despite working with legacy distribution businesses, the company also looked to innovate through targeted advertising, advanced programming guides and more. Cisco picked up NDS for $5 billion last year, and Habiger left the company when the deal closed.

Having worked in both worlds — over-the-top and traditional pay TV — gives Habiger a unique perspective on some of the key challenges the media business is facing. Many in the industry believe that the big technological problems with regards to digital content distribution have been solved. What’s left are questions around content rights and business models. Addressing these is going to require a lot of capital. Silver Lake’s appointment of Habiger could be a sign that the firm is seeing an opportunity to profit from this process.

Check out this interview I did with Habiger back in 2010 when he was still CEO of Sonic Solutions:

The news wasn’t surprising as the company said in September 2011 that it planned to split its more profitable financial services division from its education arm. And earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and others reported that a deal with Apollo was in the works. According to McGraw-Hill, the deal is expected to close in late 2012 or early 2013.

As the rise of digital content disrupts the publishing business, McGraw-Hill Education has attempted to keep pace with new products like its adaptive learning platform LearnSmart and partnerships with digital distributors like Apple, as well as startups Kno, Benchprep and others. Despite its efforts, the company’s education unit has lagged behind its financial services division. In the last quarter, for example, revenue for the unit fell 11 percent to $836 million. In its quarterly report, the company said the growth in sales of digital products across all product lines and the migration to more subscription-based business models impacted revenue.

Wall Street responded favorably to the news – after the announcement of the sale, shares in McGraw-Hill climbed about 2.35 percent to $52.90. Once the deal is closed, McGraw-Hill will be renamed McGraw Hill Financial.

As Bloomberg notes, McGraw-Hill Education’s sale isn’t the first time private equity has dabbled in education. In 2007, London-based Apax Partners led a $7.75 billion purchase of Cengage Learning Inc. from Thompson Reuters Corp, the financial news outlet reported.

As we and others have reported, tablets and other digital devices, along with the growth in open content initiatives and other textbook creation tools, are dramatically changing the landscape for traditional textbook publishers.

This summer, in a conversation with reporters, Jay Chakrapani, vice president and general manager of digital at McGraw-Hill Higher Education, said that the company wants to be the “Netflix of education.”

Through its digital products, LearnSmart, especially, he said, the company gathers increasing data about its students, enabling them to personalize learning experiences much like Netflix personalizes recommendations over time. Going forward, it will be interesting to see if Apollo takes a similar view on the future of McGraw-Hill Education.