BEIJING, July 28 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. (NYSE: EDU), the largest provider of private educational services in China, today announced it signed a definitive agreement on July 26, 2008 to acquire Tongwen, a Changchun-based private school that specializes in tutoring students who seek to retake the gaokao, or Chinese national entrance examination for students applying to colleges or universities in China.
“We are very happy to announce the acquisition of the Tongwen school, one of the top gaokao re-taker schools in Changchun, the capital of Jilin province,” said Mr. Michael Yu, New Oriental’s chairman and chief executive officer. “This acquisition is New Oriental’s second within the gaokao
re-takers space and builds upon our Mingshitang acquisition, which closed in June. In addition to expanding our gaokao re-takers presence into new
high-potential cities outside of Beijing, the Tongwen school provides us with unique cross-selling opportunities with our New Oriental U-Can middle school all-subjects training business, further strengthening our leadership position in test preparation.”
Mr. Zhang Yang, chief executive officer of Tongwen commented, “With enrollments of nearly 1,300 students, we are one of the leading players in Changchun in providing tutoring to students retaking the gaokao. We are excited for the school to become a part of New Oriental’s strong training platform, and hope that our teaching team, with its experience in gaokao subject areas, will provide a valuable resource to U-Can instructors.”
The gaokao is the Chinese national entrance exam required for admission to bachelor degree programs and most associate degree programs at Chinese colleges and universities. Gaokao re-takers occupied around 2.5 million of the 9.5 million students who took the gaokao in 2007. “New Oriental U-Can” is New Oriental’s first all-subjects middle school training program, which targets middle and high school Chinese students from ages 13 to 18 who are preparing for the gaokao.
About New Oriental
New Oriental is the largest provider of private educational services in China based on the number of program offerings, total student enrollments and geographic presence. New Oriental offers a wide range of educational programs, services and products consisting primarily of English and other foreign language training, test preparation courses for major admissions and assessment tests in the United States, the PRC and Commonwealth countries, primary and secondary school education, development and distribution of educational content, software and other technology, and online education. New Oriental’s ADSs, each of which represents four common shares, currently trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "EDU." For more information about New Oriental, please visit http://english.neworiental.org .
Safe Harbor Statement
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about New Oriental’s beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward- looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Information regarding these risks and uncertainties is included in our registration statement on Form F-1 and other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. New Oriental does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law. All information provided in this press release is as of July 28, 2008, and New Oriental undertakes no duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law.
For more information, please contact:
In China:
Ms. Sisi Zhao
New Oriental Education and Technology Group Inc.
Tel: +86-10-6260-5566 x8203
Email: zhaosisi@staff.neworiental.org
Mr. Derek Mitchell
Ogilvy Financial, Beijing
Tel: +86-10-8520-6284
Email: derek.mitchell@ogilvy.com
In the United States:
Mr. Thomas Smith
Ogilvy Financial, New York
Tel: +1-212-880-5269
Email: thomas.smith@ogilvypr.com
