In an effort to raise finance, China's largest English training
school is bidding to raise funds by listing on the New York Stock
Exchange Big Board.
Beijing-based New Oriental Education and Technology Group Inc.,
registered on August 22 with the US Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC), to raise US$112 million through an initial public
offering under the symbol "EDU." The company has assisted hundreds
of thousands of Chinese students in entering US universities.
According to its website, the company expects to price its IPO
next Wednesday. It plans to offer 7.5 million American depositary
and foreign company shares traded in the US at an estimated price
of US$11 to US$13 per share.
With the money raised, the company plans to use US$18.5 million
to pay off debts and some US$20 million to expand its teaching
network in China, according to its SEC prospectus.
Yu Minhong (also known as Michael Yu), the company's board
chairman, told China Daily by e-mail yesterday that he's
currently "on business in the United States." He didn't give any
details.
New Oriental, founded in 1993 by Yu, has grown from just one
class of 30 students to China's largest private education service
provider. It has a network of 25 schools and 111 learning centers
in 24 cities as well as an online network attracting 2 million
registered users.
Before setting up the school, Yu was an English teacher at
Peking University for seven years with a monthly salary of just
US$12.
The US denied Yu a visa to study in the country so he started
his own test-preparation classes to coach others to sit the Test of
English as a Foreign Language and the Graduate Record Examinations,
which are the two qualifications required for foreign students to
gain admission to American graduate schools.
The school has benefited from Chinese students' increasing
desire to study overseas. Figures show that it had around 872,000
students enrolled for the 2006 fiscal year which ended May 31.
Since its establishment, more than 3 million students have been
taught.
(China Daily August 31, 2006)