WEY.L Regulatory News (WEY)

27 December 2017

WEY EDUCATION PLC

("Wey Education" or the "Company")

Acquisition of Academy 21 Limited

Investor Evening Event

Further to the announcement made on 15 November 2017, Wey (AIM: WEY) announces that it has completed the acquisition of the entire issued share capital of "Target" which is a UK based on-line education business called Academy 21 Limited ("A21") for a cash consideration of £1,593,376 which may rise to £1,600,000 million dependant on the collection of certain debtors.

The terms of the acquisition were varied since the aforementioned announcement to provide for a slightly higher payment upfront but with no earnout. The Vendors of A21 (Mr and Mrs Sullivan) resigned as directors of A21 on completion of the acquisition.

For the year ended 31 August 2017, A21 had unaudited turnover of £1,030,032 and recorded a profit after tax of £137,654. It had net assets of £389,877. The sale and purchase agreement for the acquisition contains warranties and indemnities appropriate for such a transaction.

A21 is an online educational business that provides a range of Key Stage 3, GCSE and iGCSE programmes to pupils who have been referred by local authorities and schools across the UK. Its customers tend to engage A21's services for short periods of approximately six weeks, which may be extended or repeated, in contrast to typical students of Wey's principal school, InterHigh, who tend to be at InterHigh for several years. As such, the A21 business complements Wey's existing business giving access to short term tuition teaching which can extend the Wey customer base.  

It is Wey's intention to integrate A21 and its own B2B sales force in the near future and for the enlarged team to sell the Group's combined product range. Students on A21's electronic Learning Platform will be migrated to Wey's newly enhanced Learning Platform as a commercial movement, probably after the end of the current academic year.

The transaction is funded from part of the proceeds of Wey's £5 million (gross) placing, which completed in November 2017.

The placing included provision for Wey to expand its sales and marketing efforts, both in the UK, and internationally and the Company is currently finalising its plan for this expenditure for the balance of the current financial year. Such expenditure is anticipated to provide a significant boost to student numbers and revenue from the beginning of the financial year, 2018/19. Part of the strategy is not only to maintain Wey's online advertising presence through Google, Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets, but to increase brand awareness through more general advertising on other mediums. An indication of such initiatives is that InterHigh will be utilising electronic display advertising at Waterloo station throughout January, including a concentrated campaign on the large, major electronic screen above the platforms. The Company has put in place procedures to measure the impact of such advertising.

Proposed Investor Evening Event

As previously announced, on 10 January 2018 and following on from the positive response to the private investor briefing evening held in July 2017, Wey will host an investor briefing for existing and potential investors at the Hilton London Paddington, 146 Praed St, London W2 1EE, commencing at 5:30 p.m..

Numbers are limited and entrance is by invitation only. To obtain an invitation, those wishing to attend should email david.massie@wedu.co.uk giving:-

1. Their name and address; and

2. A contact email or telephone number

For statistical purposes, it would be helpful if those seeking an invitation would advise in their application whether they are an existing shareholder or not.

Enquiries:

Note to Editors

Wey is traded on AIM (AIM: WEY) and is the parent company of an educational services group (see www.weyeducation.com).

Wey's live, interactive, 'virtual classroom' approach allows students anywhere in the world with an internet or 4G connection to access a high quality, uniquely tailored education. Our subsidiaries are:

InterHigh, www.interhigh.co.uk, was established in 2005 and was a pioneer in online education. It has an excellent track record and provides live, interactive teaching of the British curriculum for years 7 - 13 teaching both iGCSE, A levels and some vocational courses, particularly in computer gaming. Our teaching is interactive and not a video download. Pupils attend what might be considered a conventional class, just that it is in a virtual classroom.

The Wey ecademy, www.weyecademy.com, was established in 2016/17 to provide services and tuition to and for other education providers and schools across a broad range of subjects and curricula. This can be teaching of individual subjects or a wider range of subjects including iGCSE and A levels or specialist vocational courses. 

Infinity Education, www.infinityeducation.org.uk, is targeted towards overseas markets. Pupils will be those aiming to achieve top grades at both iGCSE and A Level and to move on to study at leading universities in the UK and overseas.

Quoralexis, www.quoralexis.com, is an online, live, interactive language school that will welcome students from all parts of the world to learn English as a Foreign Language. Quoralexis offers an extensive range of courses in English as a Foreign Language ("EFL"), for individuals and the corporate sector, across all age groups and all language ability levels.