Cram school operator Eikoh Inc. said Friday it has acquired Shane English School to strengthen its English-language education for elementary school children ahead of the planned compulsory teaching of the language for fifth- and sixth-graders.
Eikoh, based in the Kanto region, didn’t disclose how much it paid for the acquisition of shares in the four operating companies that run the English school chain, which mainly operates in the Tokyo metropolitan area. [Other reports claim that around the purchase was for approximately 1 billion yen, or $12 million dollars, a similar amount as Eikoh paid for Nellie’s and Shane Language Services in early October 2010, both of which were also owned by Saxoncourt.]
Representatives of both Eikoh and Shane English School said the acquisition won’t involve personnel cuts or other drastic changes in operations.
Shane English School, a British English school owned by Saxoncourt Holdings, Ltd. based in the British Virgin Islands, operates 199 branches across the Kanto region, of which 46 are franchised.
[Eikoh Inc. business management division representative Hiroyuki ] Otsubo said Eikoh has no plans to change the number of teachers working for Shane English School and its roughly 20,000 students will continue receiving the same services.
Eikoh operates 380 cram schools and has 67,000 students. A press release from Eikoh said that in the Tokyo area, Shane already holds 60 percent of its classes in the same location as classes hosted by Eikoh.
Takehiko Kikuchi, a PR representative for Shane English School, said company employees and teachers received the news calmly.