China’s biggest private education company buys an English school
Bright Scholar Education Holdings (博实乐教育控 bóshílè jiàoyù) was founded in Foshan, Guangdong Province, in 1994, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange last year. With private schools in Beijing, Shanghai, and 10 of China’s provinces, the company says it is “the largest operator of international and bilingual K-12 schools in China.”
The company today announced that it will acquire Bournemouth Collegiate School (BCS) in Bournemouth, Dorset, England. BCS has two campuses offering day and boarding education for ages 2–18 on two campuses.
It’s an interesting move commercially. Politically, I wonder if there will be blowback. A similar acquisition in the U.S. or Australia right now would be the subject of close scrutiny. But not, perhaps, in Brexit-befuddled Britain?
