SHENZHEN, China, 9 June, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Noah Education Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: NED) ("Noah" or the "Company"), a leading provider of education services in China, today announced that the Company completed on June 9, 2011 the sale of its Electronic Learning Product ("ELP") business and operating assets to First Win Technologies Ltd. ("First Win") for the U.S. dollar equivalent of RMB100 million (the "Purchase Price"), subject to certain adjustments. First Win is wholly owned by Mr. Benguo Tang, one of Noah's founders and the former President and Chief Operating Officer of the Company.
As previously announced, Noah, First Win and Mr. Tang entered into a Stock Purchase Agreement (the "SPA") on March 31, 2011 for the sale of the ELP business and operating assets by Noah to First Win for the Purchase Price, subject to certain adjustments (the "Transaction"). Noah received the U.S. dollar equivalent of RMB40 million from First Win on April 12, 2011, representing the first installment of the Purchase Price. In connection with the closing of the Transaction, Noah, First Win and Mr. Tang amended the SPA on June 8, 2011 to simplify the Purchase Price adjustment mechanism. The second installment, in the amount of the sum of 30% of the Purchase Price and certain adjustments, is to be paid by July 12, 2011; the final installment, in the amount of 30% of the Purchase Price, is to be paid by October 12, 2011. First Win has been responsible for the operation of the ELP business since April 1, 2011, including earnings or losses during the period between signing and closing.
Chief Executive Officer Jerry He said, "The completion of the sale of the ELP business heralds the start of an exciting new chapter in Noah's history, as we can now focus exclusively on extending our track record of profitable growth within the education services space. China's rapidly growing, fragmented and underpenetrated education services market provides a wealth of opportunities for Noah to leverage its extensive industry expertise and healthy cash balance to continue to achieve organic and acquisitive growth within this stable, high-margin and high-visibility segment."
About Noah Education Holdings Ltd.
Noah is a leading provider of education services in China. The Company's brands include Wentai Education, which operates and manages high-end kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, and Little New Star, which provides English language training for children aged 3-19 in its directly owned and franchised training centers. Noah was founded in 2004 and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol NED. For more information about Noah, please visit http://www.noahedu.com.cn.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect Noah's current expectations and views of future events that involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Noah has based these forward-looking statements largely on its current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that it believes may affect its financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. You should understand that our actual future results may be materially different from and worse than what Noah expects. Information regarding these risks, uncertainties and other factors is included in Noah's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F and other filings with the SEC.
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Contacts: |
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Noah Education Holdings Ltd. |
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Lea Wu |
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Tel: +86 (755) 8204 3194 |
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Email: wuzy@noahedu.com |
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Investor Relations (US) |
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Kelly Gawlik |
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Taylor Rafferty |
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Tel: +1 (212) 889 4350 |
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Email: noahedu@taylor-rafferty.com |
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Investor Relations (Hong Kong) |
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Mahmoud Siddig |
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Taylor Rafferty |
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Tel: +852 3196 3712 |
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Email: noahedu@taylor-rafferty.com |
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