Navis Capital Partners to acquire Thanh Thanh Cong Education

Navis will help extend TTCE's operations. Photo: TTCE library, by TTCE

Navis, a Kuala Lumpur-based fund managing a $5 billion portfolio focused in Asia, has completed the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deal with TTCE that is chaired by Dang Huynh Uc My.

The investment value has not bee disclosed yet.

TTCE’s charter capital is VND350 billion ($15.22 million). However, as of October 2018, an external shareholder, Lam Champion Investment Limited headquartered in the Cayman Islands, bought 95 per cent of TTCE shares. According to the business registration license, as of December 31, 2018, TTCE’s legal representative was Dang Huynh Uc My, chairwomen and daughter of Dang Van Thanh, chairman of Thanh Thanh Cong Group.

However, on May 29, 2019, Tabongkod Peunchob, a Thai national has become chairwomen of TTCE, and Dang Huynh Uc My only stayed on as a member of the Board of Directors.

David Ireland, senior partner at Navis, commented: "Vietnam is experiencing strong growth across all sectors of its economy and is rapidly building its infrastructure to sustain and expand that growth. Further developing its educational base and diversifying educational opportunities to reach more of its citizens is a stated goal of the government. TTCE is a unique asset that has been developed through the hard work of its founders and its outstanding young and energetic management team. We are very excited to be a part of this story and look forward to further developing the platform, expanding the curriculum, and creating even more opportunities for our students in the coming years.”

Navis is being advised by KPMG and Hogan Lovells.

Vietnam has the highest GDP growth in Southeast Asia with a large young population and high cultural propensity to spend on education (about 10 per cent of consumer expenditure spent on education in 2017). The combination of Vietnam’s high population growth, rapidly emerging middle class, and expanding economy is accelerating the demand for better quality education.

Top public schools that offer high-quality education offer only a limited number of seats. Premium international schools are often too expensive and limit the number of local students. Private schools offering national and bilingual education programmes with reasonable tuition fees and access to all Vietnamese are an increasingly suitable choice for the growing middle class.

TTCE is a leading private school chain. It currently owns and operates 17 schools and English training centers and has identified and secured land for an additional four schools which will open by the 2020/2021 academic year. Navis and its partners will continue to grow the platform by opening new schools in underserved areas and expanding services in both new and existing schools.

According to published data, TTCE has short-term debts of VND46.6 billion ($2.03 million) and long-term loans of VND350 billion (15.22 million) at Orient Commercial Bank's (OCB) Tan Binh branch and Vietcombank's Binh Tay branch. TTCE is taking long-term loans through issuing VND230 billion ($10 million) of bonds on HSX, and is expected to mobilise VND300 billion ($13.04 million) of convertible bonds (expected in the second quarter of 2019) with 0 per cent interest rate and conversion price of VND32,000 ($1.39) per share.

According to Dang Huynh Uc My, the Vietnamese education market is full of potential. The reinvestment into TTCE's core activities, including staff, programmes, curricula, facilities, and the connection of education community, have always been a top priority.

TTCE expects the 2020-2021 year to provide quality international education services to nearly 30,000 students across the system.

Vietnamese parents spend 47 per cent of their income on their children's education. Every year, Vietnamese people spend $3 billion on studying abroad, especially at high school and university, or college, which just shows the demand for quality education and highlights the shortcomings of local education, which makes it necessary to build schools of international quality.