Edvantage Group (0382.HK) Completed the First China College Acquisition

Dec 07, 2020 11:39 JST

Source: Edvantage Group Holdings Limited

Acquired 51% of the entire equity interest in Sichuan New Concept Education Investment Co., Ltd. and Chengdu Yude Logistics Management Co., Ltd.;
The number of Full-time students of two Schools under the Target Group located in Chengdu Sichuan reached approximately 24,000

HONG KONG, Dec 07, 2020 - (ACN Newswire) - Edvantage Group Holdings Limited ("Edvantage Group" or the "Group", stock code: 0382.HK), the largest private higher education group in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area ("GBA"), is pleased to announce that On December 4, 2020, Guangzhou Zhiheng Education Development Co., Ltd. and Guangzhou Huagang Enterprise Management Co., Ltd., both indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Group, entered into the Acquisition Agreement with Nanning Zhuowen Education Consulting Services Co.,Ltd., Shenzhen Hongtao Education Group Co., Ltd. and the Target Group to acquire 51% of Sichuan New Concept Education Investment Co., Ltd. ("Target Company") and Chengdu Yude Logistics Management Co., Ltd., with a total consideration of RMB750 million, or approximately HK$880 million. The Target Company runs two schools, Sichuan City Vocational College and Sichuan City Technician College (the "Schools"). Up to now, there are about 24,000 full-time students. The two campuses of the Schools (Chengdu and Meishan) cover an area of approximately 1,100 mu with a total capacity of 35,000 people.

Picture 1-4: Scenery of Sichuan City Vocational College and Sichuan City Technician College

The Schools feature with regional advantages and benefited from the economic development and favoured policies in Chengdu and Chongqing
At the beginning of 2020, the Central Finance and Economics Committee proposed the "Chengyu Region Dual City Economic Circle Construction" for the very first time, which included Chengdu and Chongqing in Sichuan Province into a national strategy. Since 2011, the birth population in Sichuan Province has continued to grow. These populations will enter to technician colleges in 2026 and higher vocational colleges in 2029. Such relevant colleges and universities are expected to meet huge market demand. As a national strategy, the construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing dual-city economic circle is in the stage of overall deployment and top-level planning. The construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing dual-city economic circle is accompanied by the rise of the higher education system, thereby forming a four-legged regional higher education development pattern.

With the acquisition of the Target Company, this is the first time for the Group to enter the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle. Not only can it enjoy policy benefits, it will ensure the growth of revenue and market recognition of the Group in the next 3 to 5 years, and it can also introduce the advanced concepts of the integration of higher education in the GBA and the internationalized educational thinking into the region to form an endogenous driving force for higher education. The main campuses of the Schools is located in the urban area of Chengdu, with convenient transportation and obvious regional advantages; the campuses have high potential for expansion to support the future development.

With high-level and high-quality school operational ability, Sichuan City Vocational College ranks No.1 in the Sichuan Province, No.8 in China
Sichuan City Vocational College is a full-time comprehensive general higher education institution licensed by the Provincial Department of Education. It has offered nearly 10 years of undergraduate programs, 10 years of higher vocational education programs and accumulated 20 years of operation experience. In the "2020 Alumni Association Private Higher Vocational School Comprehensive Strength Ranking" and the "2020 Wushulian Private Higher Vocational School Comprehensive Strength Ranking", Sichuan City Vocational College ranked first in the Sichuan Province, and ranked fifth and eighth respectively in China. It has become a top-tier private higher vocational college in Sichuan Province, with both the quality of school's management team and the local reputation have gained market verification.

The Schools attaches great importance to school-enterprise cooperation and integration of industry and education. It is currently cooperating with 300 well-known schools and enterprises such as JD.com, Inc. and Chengdu Metro. It has successively carried out more than 30 "order training" projects with many well-known companies such as Huawei, JD.com, Inc., Mengniu Diary and Vanke in terms of enrollment and employment. The average monthly salary of the graduates is over RMB6,000. The Schools is committed to providing students with more practical training to improve employment competitiveness, and has maintained an employment rate of over 98% of graduates for eight consecutive years.

High average tuition fee and large scale of full-time students
High average tuition fee: The average tuition fee for students of Sichuan City Vocational College is RMB14,000 per school year, according to surveys, it is expected that next year's tuition standard will be raised to RMB16,800 per school year; the average tuition fee for students of Sichuan City Technician College is RMB9,800 per school year. With the full liberalization of education fees for academic education in Sichuan Province, it is believed that there will be room for growth in tuition fees in the future.

Large scale of full-time students: Sichuan City Vocational College has about 16,000 full-time students; Sichuan City Technician College started recruiting students in September 2018, and currently there are about 8,200 full-time students. In the next two years, the target number of full-time students in the Schools will increase to approximately 18,000 and 16,000 respectively.

The Schools exerts a high level of synergy with Edvantage Group, which expands the regional layout of schools and improves brand influence
Corresponding professional curriculum: Sichuan City Vocational College's provincial-level key majors such as architectural engineering technology and college-level key and characteristic professional majors like accounting, software technology and the Group's Guangdong University of Finance and Economics Huashang College's Big Business + IT categories and Guangzhou Huashang Vocational College's architecture's majors of the Schools of Engineering are highly compatible.

International elements in line with the international dual circulation national policy: The overseas schools currently operated by the Group have diversified academic levels and teaching products, which will add value into Sichuan City Vocational College by then. At the same time, the Group's unique Global Immersion Programme (GIP) can complement the school's weak international cooperation to connect China colleges with foreign colleges, undergraduates, and masters (academic + non-academic), and make good use of overseas schools resources.

Subjects + employment in line with the domestic large circulation national policy: Acquisition plans create more possibilities for the Group's higher vocational education services. For example, students can use the "2+1" model to study in Sichuan Province for two years first, and then take internship job in the GBA to adapt to the employment environment in the GBA in the last school year. At the same time, students can also utilize the experienced entrepreneurial counselling team of the Group and the excellent entrepreneurial environment of the GBA to provide students with more ways for future development.

Edvantage Group also believes that the acquisition of the Target Company and the Schools can significantly increase the number of students in the Group along with revenue, and expand the school's layout in the Chengdu-Chongqing district, and increase the influence of the group's brand.

About Edvantage Group Holdings Limited
Edvantage Group Holdings Limited (stock code: 0382.HK) is the largest private higher education group in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and an early mover in education sector in pursuing international expansion. The total number of student enrolments of the Group is 35,453 and the Group owns 5 schools in both China and overseas as of 31 August 2020.

In China, the Group currently operates 2 private higher education institutions in Guangdong Province, namely undergraduate college Huashang College Guangdong University of Finance and Economics and Guangzhou Huashang Vocational College, featuring majors in fields of business, healthcare and information technology as the strategic curriculum; On December 4, 2020, the Group's existing Chinese school network in the Greater Bay Area expanding to the Chengyu Region Dual City Economic Circle with great development potential by acquiring Sichuan City Vocational College and Sichuan City Technician College in Sichuan, of which the number of full-time students is about 24,000. Overseas, the Group operates a private vocational education institution named Global Business College of Australia ("GBCA") authorised by Australian Skills Quality Authority ("ASQA") in Australia, offering vocational education courses and non-formal short-term courses. GBCA is the first Chinese international education institution approved by the Australian government. In December 2019, the Group also acquired a private vocational education institution in Singapore with an EduTrust certification from the Ministry of Education, that is, Edvantage Institute (Singapore) ("EIS") (formerly known as NYU Language School), which provides short-term and long-term language training courses, various kinds of diploma and higher diploma programmes. Moreover, in the first half of year 2020, the Group's Edvantage Institute Australia ("EIA") was authorised and approved by the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency ("TEQSA"), being the Group's first higher education institution qualified to offer and award both undergraduate and master's degrees.

Source: Edvantage Group Holdings Limited
Sectors: Daily Finance, Daily News, Education