Paramount to acquire 66 pct share in real education for RM183 million
KUALA LUMPUR: Paramount Corporation Bhd is acquiring a 66 per cent stake in REAL Education Group for RM183 million, cash.
REAL Education, a unit held by Character First Sdn Bhd, has a strong presence in the kindergarten, primary and secondary segments, with a combined student population of 18,000.
“The acquisition is expected to contribute an additional 10 per cent to our education business,” group chief executive officer Jeffrey Chew told a press conference after the signing of the acquisition agreement yesterday.
He said currently, the education segment contributed 30 per cent to the group’s total business while the property sector accounted for the remaining 70 per cent.
“The acquisition will also enable us to venture into the pre- school segment, as REAL owns 30 preschool premises in the country currently with about 4,500 pupils,” Chew said.
He said the exercise would also increase the student population in its primary and secondary private school ( K-12) segments to 6,500 students from 3,200 students at present.
“This will make us the largest K-12 private school operator in Malaysia with nearly 8.0 per cent of the total market share nationwide,” he said.
On the tertiary education segment, Chew said it remained flattish as there were many public universities that offered cheaper fees, making the segment more competitive to the group.
As for the property sector, Chew said the group was scheduled to launch about RM600 million worth of projects this year.
“We closed about RM400 million in sales last year and we expect the number to increase in 2017,” he said.
On the ringgit’s performance, Chew believed the local currency would stabilise this year supported by Malaysia’s strong economic fundamentals.
“The ringgit started to weaken two years ago due to falling commodity prices and as crude oil and crude palm oil prices are recovering now, I think we should do better,” he added. — Bernama