New Oriental Announces Tencent's Investment in Xun Cheng and Xun Cheng's Proposed IPO in China

BEIJING, Feb. 1, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- New Oriental Education and Technology Group Inc. (the "Company" or "New Oriental") (NYSE: EDU), the largest provider of private educational services in China, today announced that an affiliate of Tencent Holdings Limited ("Tencent," SEHK stock code: 00700), a leading provider of Internet value-added services in China, has agreed to invest RMB320 million (US$50 million) in Beijing New Oriental Xuncheng Network Technology Co., Ltd. ("Xun Cheng"), which operates the Company's online education platform, Koolearn.com. This investment is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2016. After the completion of the Tencent investment, Xun Cheng will remain as a majority controlled affiliate of New Oriental.

New Oriental also announced that Xun Cheng intends to conduct an initial public offering ("IPO") and listing of its common shares on a major stock exchange in China. Xun Cheng's IPO will be subject to capital markets conditions, and its application with the relevant PRC authorities in compliance with applicable laws and regulations and obtaining the requisite regulatory approval. While the number of common shares to be offered and sold in the IPO has yet to be determined, New Oriental plans to continue to control and consolidate Xun Cheng after Xun Cheng's IPO.

This press release is not intended to, and does not, constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase any securities, in the United States or elsewhere, and it is not intended to, and does not, constitute an offer, solicitation or sale of any securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

About New Oriental

New Oriental is the largest provider of private educational services in China based on the number of program offerings, total student enrollments and geographic presence. New Oriental offers a wide range of educational programs, services and products consisting primarily of English and other foreign language training, test preparation courses for major admissions and assessment tests in the United States, the PRC and Commonwealth countries, primary and secondary school education, development and distribution of educational content, software and other technology, and online education. New Oriental's ADSs, each of which represents one common share, currently trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "EDU."

For more information about New Oriental, please visit http://english.neworiental.org.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "confidence" and similar statements. New Oriental may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its reports filed or furnished to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in its annual reports to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about New Oriental's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in our annual report on Form 20-F and other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and New Oriental undertakes no duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law.

Contacts

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

In China:

Ms. Cara O'Brien
FTI Consulting
Tel: +852-3768-4537
Email: [email protected]  

Ms. Sisi Zhao
New Oriental Education and Technology Group Inc.
Tel: +86-10-6260-5568
Email: [email protected]

SOURCE New Oriental Education and Technology Group Inc.

Related Links

http://english.neworiental.org