Acquisition

29 Sep 2006 09:09

AEC Education plc29 September 2006 AEC Education plc ("AEC" or "the Group") Acquisition of Smartworks Learning Centre Pte Ltd (Singapore) AEC Education plc (AIM: AEC), is pleased to announce that its wholly ownedsubsidiary in Singapore, AEC Edu Group Pte Ltd, has acquired 100% of SmartworksLearning Centre Pte Ltd ("SLC") which is incorporated and operating inSingapore. The acquisition was made on a willing buyer and willing seller basis for a totalconsideration of S$442,000. The consideration comprises cash and will besatisfied as to S$221,000 on completion and as to S$221,000 six months aftercompletion. The consideration will be reduced if SLC's profit before tax forthe year ending 31 December 2006 is less than S$140,000. SLC, which had audited net assets of S$47,894 as at 31 December 2005 andgenerated profits of S$23,729 for the year ended 31 December 2005, provides adistance learning programme in real estate and marketing in collaboration withthe University of South Australia and the College of Estate Management in UK.SLC is also conducting similar programmes in partnership with SingaporePolytechnic which is a Singapore Government Institution. With this acquisition, AEC is able to widen the scope of education services thatit provides and also take full advantage of the growing demand for suchprogrammes. The Group intends to introduce similar programmes across its otheroperational areas in due course. Mr David Ho, Chief Executive of AEC Edu Group Pte Ltd, said "The real estatesector is an expanding sector in most of the Far East region and the demand fortrained people to manage and market real estate is growing. It was therefore,timely for the Group to enter into such a specialized area of training". For enquiries, please contact Mr David HoAEC Edu Group Pte LtdTel: (65) 6320 4829Fax: (65) 6224 8018Email: davidho@aec.edu.sg About AEC Education plc AEC is the UK holding company for a number of companies, founded in 1985 inSingapore and Malaysia, that provide business educational services toapproximately 16,000 students in the Asia-Pacific region: the fastest-growingsource market for international students. The group offers class-basedinstruction at the largest educational campus in Singapore's Central BusinessDistrict and distance learning up to postgraduate level. In addition, itprovides degree qualifications on behalf of several leading internationaluniversities, targeting the large volumes of overseas students that theSingaporean government has announced in the Global Schoolhouse Vision it intendsto increase. AEC's aim is to be a leader in quality education through facilitating learning,fostering creativity and developing knowledge, skills and confidence in itsstudents. Its receipt of four rare Singapore Quality Class Awards shows theGroup's recognition by the Singaporean Government as a prestigious andforward-moving company. In August 2005, AEC was awarded the CaseTrust for Private EducationOrganizations, a student protection scheme for foreign students. This is afurther step by AEC in its recognition as a quality provider in the educationindustry. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange