Yuchengco-Ayala education merger valued at P15.5B

Ayala Corp. chair and CEO Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala. INQUIRER file photo

The Yuchengco and Ayala groups have agreed to combine P15.5 billion worth of assets in the academia to create an educational powerhouse under publicly-listed holding firm iPeople Inc.

After the merger of their education businesses, the holding firm iPeople will be 51.3 percent-owned by the Yuchengco group through House of Investments (HI) while Ayala Corp.’s education arm AC Education Inc. will own 33.5 percent.

In a joint press statement, HI and AC Education said they would share governance and management of iPeople. As a result of this strategic partnership, iPeople will become one of the leading education groups in the country, with almost 60,000 students.

The merger will bring together the seven educational institutions of iPeople and AC Education, which together will offer quality education to students across all income segments, with campuses in Metro Manila, Calabarzon (Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal-Quezon), the Bicol Region,and Mindanao.

The deal includes the Yuchengcos’ Malayan Education System Inc., operating under the name of Mapua University, one of the country’s leading engineering and technical universities in the country.  It also includes Malayan Colleges Laguna, Malayan Colleges Mindanao in Davao, and Malayan Science High School in Manila.

AC Education and its subsidiaries will contribute the following to the merger:

• University of Nueva Caceres, one of the oldest and largest universities in Bicol;
• National Teachers College, the country’s pioneer private teachers’ training tertiary education institution, and,
• APEC Schools, the largest chain of private stand-alone high schools in the country.

“We are looking forward to the merger of AC Education and iPeople. Mapua’s reputation as a leading private engineering and technical university in the country, together with AC Education’s tested ability to provide affordable quality education, leading to the employability of its graduates, would enable the Yuchengco-owned House of Investments and Ayala Corporation to jointly contribute, in a bigger scale, to the Philippines and all sectors of society. Together, our schools will not only aim at educating our youth but also at preparing our graduates to become major players in sustainable businesses driven by adaptive technology,” HI chair Helen Dee said.

“We are looking forward to working closely with the Yuchengcos’ House of Investments in helping to build the nation through education. We believe that combining our resources and capabilities will allow us to, together, enable many more Filipinos to achieve their dreams of a better life for themselves, their families and communities, by arming them with the values, critical thinking, global mindset and 21st century skills that are necessary to succeed in this rapidly changing world,” Ayala Corp. chair Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala said.

BPI Capital Corp. acted as the exclusive financial adviser to AC Education while RCBC Capital Corp. acted as the exclusive financial adviser to iPeople. /jpv

RELATED STORY

Ayala, Yuchengco combine education ventures