BEIJING, Feb. 20, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- RYB Education, Inc. ("RYB" or the "Company") (NYSE: RYB), a leading early childhood education service provider in China, today announced it has entered into a strategic cooperation agreement with NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited ("NetDragon") (HKSE: 0777).
NetDragon has been an active promoter of education development in the internet industry. It develops innovative EdTech products and systems through active collaboration with renowned universities and enterprises. RYB will leverage NetDragon's technology and expertise to further integrate both parties' online and offline resources. For example, the two companies will seek to jointly develop early childhood educational products, as well as explore the field of children's English language learning using an online-merge-offline model. With its advantageous technological know-how in gamification, NetDragon will also support RYB in upgrading the content and courses offered at its play-and-learn centers. This strategic collaboration marks RYB's continuous efforts in its digital and internet strategy to support its long-term growth.
"We are excited to have established this strategic relationship with NetDragon. By leveraging their pool of established online learning platforms and digital learning technologies, such as VR and AR, RYB is well prepared to develop competitive early childhood education products suitable for the mobile education market," said Ms. Yanlai Shi, Co-Founder, Director and Chief Executive Officer of RYB. "There will be strong synergy between our extensive student and parent network and NetDragon's digital curriculum, tools and solutions. We look forward to working closely with the NetDragon team over the coming years. Through our joint efforts I'm confident that we will bring about more educational innovations and make early childhood education services more flexible and accessible," concluded Ms. Shi.
Dr. Simon Leung, Vice Chairman of NetDragon and CEO of NetDragon Huayu Education, said: "We are pleased to form this strategic alliance with RYB Education. We believe that this cooperation will position us better in the preschool education market. We will fully utilize our various advantages in technology and content to carry out profound cooperation with RYB. We firmly believe that NetDragon's powerful tools and solutions for digital courses, combined with RYB's parent, teacher and student network, will unleash great synergetic potentials. We also hope that the cooperation with RYB can help promote innovation and equity in the education space."
About RYB Education, Inc.
Founded on the core values of "Care" and "Responsibility," "Inspire" and "Innovate," RYB Education, Inc. is a leading early childhood education service provider in China. Since opening its first play-and-learn center in 1998, the Company has grown and flourished with the mission to provide high-quality, individualized and age-appropriate care and education to nurture and inspire each child for his or her betterment in life. During its two decades of operating history, the Company has built "RYB" into a well-recognized education brand and helped bring about many new educational practices in China's early childhood education industry. RYB's comprehensive early childhood education solutions meet the needs of children from infancy to 6 years old through structured courses at kindergartens and play-and-learn centers, as well as at-home educational products and services.
About NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited
NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (HKSE: 0777) is a global leader in building internet communities with a long track record of developing and scaling multiple internet and mobile platforms that impact hundreds of millions of users. These include China's number one online gaming portal, 17173.com, and China's most influential smartphone app store platform, 91 Wireless, which was sold to Baidu for US$1.9 billion in 2013 as the largest Internet M&A transaction in China.
Established in 1999, NetDragon is one of the most reputable and well-known online game developers in China with a history of successful game titles including Eudemons Online, Heroes Evolved and Conquer Online. In recent years, NetDragon has also started to scale its online education business on the back of management's vision to create the largest global online learning community, and to bring the "classroom of the future" to every school around the world.
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," "confident" and similar statements. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the Company's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: the Company's brand recognition and market reputation; student enrolment in the Company's teaching facilities; the Company's growth strategies; its future business development, results of operations and financial condition; trends and competition in China's early childhood education market; changes in its revenues and certain cost or expense items; the expected growth of the Chinese early childhood education market; Chinese governmental policies relating to the Company's industry and general economic conditions in China. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company's filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of this press release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.
For investor and media inquiries, please contact:
In China:
RYB Education, Inc.
Investor Relations
Tel: 86-10-8767-5752
E-mail: ir@rybbaby.com
The Piacente Group, Inc.
Ross Warner
Tel: +86 (10) 6508-0677
E-mail: ryb@tpg-ir.com
In the United States:
The Piacente Group, Inc.
Brandi Piacente
Tel: +1-212-481-2050
E-mail: ryb@tpg-ir.com
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