Baring buys stake in NYSE-listed Ambow Education
Baring Private Equity Asia has acquired a stake in Chinese education services provider Ambow Education Holding in conjunction with the company's management.
Between November 9 and January 6, Campus Holdings, an acquisition vehicle set up by Baring and Ambow CEO and chairwoman Jin Huang, purchased 11.4 million shares in Ambow for approximately $48.17 million through a series of privately negotiated transactions with shareholders unaffiliated with the company. This equates to a 7.87% stake in Ambow, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
The company operates tutoring centers for school-age students as well as career enhancement centers and colleges, serving customers in 30 out of China's 31 provinces and autonomous regions. Huang noted that the company has gained market share in the past year, achieving 33% year-on-year net revenue growth in the first nine months of 2011 and a 35% increase in operating income.
"Education in China is a sector in which Baring Asia has had extensive prior investment experience, and we continue to see strong demand for the private education industry in China due to sustained rising disposable incomes and high competition for admission to schools," Jean Eric Salata, founder and CEO of Baring Private Equity Asia, said in a statement.
Baring, which closed its fifth pan-Asian fund at $2.46 billion last year, is a seasoned investor in the education space. Its portfolio includes Minsheng Education Group, an operator of private colleges in China; Cambridge International College, a provider of vocational education and English tutoring services to predominantly Asian students in Australia, the UK and Canada; and Nord Anglia Education, a K-12 school platform with a focus on Asia.
Its most recent acquisition in the sector came in June 2011, with the purchase of the tertiary education business of Singaporean education and training institution PSB Academy for an undisclosed amount.
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