Leader Education, third-largest private higher education firm in China’s Heilongjiang province, seeks US$70 million from Hong Kong IPO
- Leader Education plans to use the net proceeds raised from the IPO to expand its campus and repay existing debt
- Company is the third Chinese private university operator to list in Hong Kong this year
Leader Education, the third-largest private higher education provider in China’s northeastern Heilongjiang province in terms of admission quotas, is seeking to raise up to US$70 million in an initial public offering in Hong Kong that will kick off next week, according to a source familiar with the transaction.
It is the third Chinese private university operator to list in Hong Kong this year, following Cathay Media and Education, which listed in July, and Shanghai Gench Education, which listed in January.
The company operates Heilongjiang College of Business and Technology in Harbin, which offers 24 undergraduate majors spanning economics, railways, business, engineering, arts and literature.
According to its preliminary listing document, Leader Education’s admission quota – the maximum number of students allowed by China’s education authorities – increased to 2,800 during 2019-2020, the last school year, from 2,219 during the 2016-2017 school year. The quota ranked it third among all private higher education institutions in the province, according to consultant Frost & Sullivan, as cited in the document.
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Huatai International is the sole sponsor for the transaction, according to the document. The brokerage was not immediately available for comment.