Gelonghui, Feb. 1, 丨 Hope Education (01765.HK) issued an announcement. On January 31, 2024, the buyer (i.e. Jiangxi Wenyan Investment Management Co., Ltd.) signed a transfer agreement with the seller (i.e. Chengdu May Sunshine Education Management Co., Ltd., which is one of the company's consolidated entities). Based on this, the buyer has agreed to acquire 100% of the target company's shares and current and potential shareholders' rights included in the shares, as well as the current and potential shareholder rights of Changzhen Company as the host of the target school RMB 500 million.
The target companies (Jiangxi Changzhen Industrial Co., Ltd. and Nanchang University Gongqing College Logistics Service Co., Ltd.) are two limited liability companies established in China, mainly engaged in logistics management services, property management services, and infrastructure investment, development and operation of the hospital. The target school (i.e. Gongqing College of Nanchang University) began operating in 1985. In 2003, the Ministry of Education assessed and confirmed as an independent college jointly organized by Nanchang University and Changzhen Company. The group reached an acquisition agreement with the original organizer of the target school in February 2021. The target school is an independent college that mainly focuses on work and is developed in a coordinated manner across multiple disciplines such as management, and literature.
In recent years, the country has successively introduced a number of policies to guide the high-quality development of vocational education. Group colleges and universities are facing greater pressure to invest in running schools. This sale will better help the Group raise funds, enable the Group to better allocate financial resources, and improve the conditions for running schools to meet the needs of existing institutions such as basic operation, college renovation and expansion, and promotion of for-profit choices. For the above reasons, directors (including independent non-executive directors) believe that the terms of the transfer agreement are general commercial terms and are fair and reasonable. After the sale is completed, the target company will no longer be a subsidiary of the company, the target school will no longer be a joint venture of the company, and its financial performance, assets and liabilities will no longer be included in the group's comprehensive financial statements.