Beijing and Hong Kong, July 28, 2010 – Welkin today announced a growth equity investment in NIT Education, a leading operator of international K-12 schools targeting domestic students in China, to support its further business expansion and to capitalize on China’s fast growing education industry. Since Welkin’s investment, NIT Education has aggressively pursued opportunities to build new campuses in major cities in China and introduce new academic offerings to help fuel their growth.
Commenting on the investment, James Tan, the Chairman and CEO and a co-founder of NIT Education said: “NIT Education is a pioneer in Chinese education and one of the first and largest operators of international K-12 schools targeting domestic students in China. Our unique curriculum, which offers students the academic rigor of traditional Chinese education as well as the independence and creativity of Western education, has been enormously successful in terms academic results. Since our founding in 2004, NIT Education has delivered a college acceptance rate of nearly 100% across 3,500 high school graduates. We plan to grow aggressively in the coming years both at our Beijing campus and in other major cities of China. We look forward to working with Welkin team to execute these plans.”
Lydia Liu, Master Principal and Head of Academics and a co-founder of NIT Education added: “We are delighted to partner with Welkin. We were impressed with Welkin’s deep understanding of China’s fast evolving education industry and long-term approach, which is essential for the education industry. More notably, we believe Welkin’s powerful platform and resources will add immense value to our fast growing company in the coming years.”
Christopher Fong, a Managing Director of Welkin, said, “NIT Education has developed a truly remarkable education platform that is tailored to the learning needs of Chinese students, combining the strengths of international education philosophy and traditional Chinese values. The demand for this is rapidly growing and currently underserved in China, especially among higher income families. We see enormous long-term potential in this market segment. NIT Education has developed a unique business model and strong brand name that well positions it to continue to capture and lead this market opportunity.”
About Welkin
Welkin is a China-focused mid-market growth equity investment firm with a distinguished family heritage and strong entrepreneurial roots. Founded in 2009, Welkin invests in niche-leading, growth stage companies in China on behalf of global institutional investors and the firm’s employees. Welkin deploys its local resources, industry knowledge, and operating expertise, to drive impactful value creation and help companies achieve their full growth potential. For more information, please visit www.welkincapital.com.
About NIT Education Group Limited
NIT Education, founded in 2004 by Chairman and CEO James Tan and Head of Academics Lydia Liu, is a leading operator of international K-12 schools targeting domestic students in China. NIT Education has over 2,000 students from grades K-12 at the fully-owned campus in Beijing and joint venture campuses in Shanghai, Chengdu and Dalian. For additional information, please visit NIT Education’s website at www.niteducation.org.
Contact:
Media Relations
[email protected]
