Pearson
Pearson is an international media company with market-leading businesses in education, business information and consumer publishing.
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Pearson acquires Wall Street Institute China subsiduary
FTSE 100 constituent, Pearson announced that it had agreed to acquire Wall Street English from its parent company, Wall Street Institute for US$145 million. Wall Street Institute is majority owned by private equity company The Carlyle Group.
Wall Street English provides language training to adults in China through 39 centres in seven cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Pearson said that it expects the business to generate approximately US$70 million in revenues in 2009, and achieved a compound annual growth rate of “more than 40%” between 2006 and 2008.
Pearson is already active in the language training market in China, with 27 training centres in Beijing and Shanhai. Through the acquisition of Wall Street English, Pearson will have a leading position in the sector. Wall Street English and Pearson’s Longman Schools will be merged to create a new company with more than US$100 million in sales, it said. The acquisition is expected to be earnings enhancing from 2010.
John Fallon, chief executive of Pearson's International Education business, said:
'There will soon be two billion people speaking English around the world, and China is absolutely central to our plans to build on Pearson's position as the world's leading provider of English language teaching services. Wall Street English is a successful company with high-quality educational programmes, strong management, a premium brand, good cash flow and margins, and excellent growth prospects. It will be able to draw on the full range of Pearson's assets and resources to do even more to help China's young professionals acquire the skills they need to progress in their lives and careers. It also helps to establish Pearson as a major player in one of the most exciting and dynamic education markets anywhere in the world.'
