Investment of over US$ four million will support business expansion in Northeast China
SHENYANG, China, Oct. 25 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Guanya Education Group, a leading children's English education company in Northeast China, today announced that investment firm ARC China recently led a first institutional investment round of over US$ four million into Guanya.
Guanya provides English language education programs to children from ages three to fifteen and is headquartered in Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning Province. Utilizing sophisticated state of the art teaching methods, the Company operates twenty-seven branded schools located in six cities in northeast China, including Shenyang, Dalian, Anshan, Jinzhou, Fushun and Yinkou.
English language education in China is a large and rapidly growing industry, driven by robust economic expansion, increasing disposable income and rapid urbanization of China's population. Education represents 13% of a Chinese urban family's disposable income versus around 2% in Japan and in the US. According to market research published by the Social Survey Institute of China, the English language training market in China will likely reach US$2.2 billion by the end of 2010.
English proficiency has become more and more important in career development as China's involvement in the world's economy has increased. Chinese parents have therefore placed more emphasis on their children attaining proficiency in English, and children's English language programs have grown rapidly as a result. According to China's National Bureau of Statistics, there are approximately 200 million students from the ages of four to fifteen enrolled in kindergarten, primary school and middle school.
"We are delighted to have an outstanding investment firm such as ARC China as our strategic and financial partner," said Mr. Sam Hu, Chief Executive Officer of Guanya. "We are constantly working to expand our penetration of the local markets with our demonstrated business model and are now on the fast track of business development. ARC China's capital supports our business goals and adds corporate governance, operation, and international expertise which will allow us to accelerate our expansion and pursuit of opportunities in our core markets."
"Guanya has demonstrated strong growth and brand recognition in the region," said Barry Freeman, Managing Director of ARC China. "We are very excited to partner with such a strong management team and believe that the Guanya brand will become a leading brand in China for children's English education."
About Guanya
Guanya Education Group, headquartered in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, provides English education to children from ages three to fifteen. It is a leading children's English education company in northeast China, with an extensive network of twenty-seven schools. Guanya is a well recognized brand in China's children's English education industry. Guanya's website is www.guanyaenglish.com .
About ARC China
ARC China is an investment management group focused on making investments in entrepreneur-owned small and medium sized enterprises located in the Tier II and Tier III regions of China. ARC China's investment strategy is to make value-oriented, highly involved and exit-driven equity investments in a diversified portfolio of domestic consumption-focused high-growth Chinese businesses in these regions, and then to create value in these businesses by applying the team's professional experience and relationships to help the companies upgrade their management teams, technology, systems, business processes and financial and other information reporting. ARC China's team of experienced investment professionals and in-house due diligence staff have deployed this proven and unique on-the-ground investment strategy in China since 2008. More information can be found on ARC China's website at www.arcchina.cn .
