CVC Capital Partners ("CVC") and the Founder of investee company, Education International Corporation (EIC) Group Limited ("EIC"), announced today that Isa Wong has joined EIC as CEO. Ms Wong, who will be based in Beijing where EIC is headquartered, brings almost two decades of experience in the education sector across Greater China.
CVC acquired a majority stake in EIC in December 2013, and has since been working alongside Founder and former CEO, Joe Li, to develop and expand its overseas education services available to customers.
Ms Wong joins EIC from Pearson, where she was most recently President of the Greater China business, taking responsibility across the region for all of the Pearson Education businesses including English tutoring, international schools and publications. Ms Wong began her career in education at Popular Holding Limited in Singapore.
EIC is a leading overseas educational counselling service provider in China, holding a top three position in all 20 cities it offers its services. CVC has invested at a time when the overseas education market in China has been growing rapidly, with private education services becoming increasingly affordable in line with the growth in household income. The growth of the company continues to be driven domestically by a demand to study abroad at younger ages, which increases the need for educational counselling, as well as internationally where there's continued demand from schools for qualified, tuition paying students from China.
Working with CVC, EIC will focus on developing key initiatives, including online services, an upgrade of the companies' knowledge systems, attracting new talent, and strengthening corporate governance.
Joe Li, Founder and Chairman of EIC, said: "The education market in China continues to evolve, and making key hires such as Isa Wong, is fundamental to maintaining our competitiveness and further development. The experience of Isa Wong, coupled with the expertise and experience of CVC, will enable us to progress with innovation and strengthen EIC's management capabilities."
Francis Leung, Managing Partner at CVC, said: "CVC has been working closely with the management team to continue developing EIC into a world class education company. We are committed to helping EIC further broaden its service horizon, and Isa Wong's unquestionable experience and achievements in this sector will be invaluable in the successful implementation of EIC's strategy."
Ms Wong, CEO of EIC, said: "EIC's attractive business model and unmatched market share in international education counselling services, ideally places the company to benefit from China's burgeoning education market. I am incredibly excited to join the EIC team who have been providing such fundamental services over the past 14 years as more and more students seek to study overseas."