CISS refutes information on foreign acquisition

Canadian International School System refutes the information of being acquired by foreign firm

Nguyen Thi Kieu Oanh, chairwoman of CISS, told vtc.vn that the acquisition is just a rumour.

Oanh stated that previously, through the introduction of a consultancy firm from Singapore, representatives of ISP met the major investor of CISS and expressed interest in co-operating, to expand the operations of CISS in Vietnam as well as Southeast Asia.

She added that at present, CISS is busy with the student recruitment for the 2018-2019 school year, thus it has no plans to either co-operate or transfer a stake to any partner.

Previously, Bloomberg reported that UK-based ISP, which is backed by Swiss buyout firm Partners Group Holding AG, is conducting due diligence on the school and may purchase a majority stake for about $150 million, including CISS’ debts, according to a source who wished not to be named. The parties could sign an agreement as soon as next month, the source added.

According to Bloomberg, the representatives of CISS and Partners Group declined commenting. ISP said in a statement that the company has been growing rapidly through acquisitions over the past few years and is continually in dialogue with school owners in many different parts of the world. It declined to comment on specific deals.

VIR contacted a representative of the legal division of CISS to verify the information once more, however, a comment was not available at the time.

Established in 2009, CISS operates a number of kindergartens, Canadian International School (CIS), Bilingual Canadian International School, as well as the Albert Einstein primary, secondary, and high schools.

Toronto District School Board, a key partner of Canadian International School System, is the consultant in matching and integrating Vietnamese and Canadian curricula to guarantee the effectiveness of the bilingual programme.