The share value of New Oriental Education and Technology Group Inc jumped the largest since July 2012 as a speculative bid by Ambow Education Holding Ltd was said to be on the table. The buyout offer came from the smaller Chinese tutoring firm.
Last March 15, Ambow's shares rose 53% after Baring Private Equity Asia proposed purchasing stocks at a premium. New Oriental is currently China's largest educational service provider and its stock value rose 8.4% as it was rumored to be a target for takeover by Ambow.
Ambow reported cash at about US$52 million last March 2012 while New Oriental had US$292 million last November 2012. The offer from Baring's was US$1.46 per ADR which is 44.5% over the closing share value of US$1.01 last March 14. Baring would be financing the transaction through its own capital equity.
As for Ambow, Baring said it was 'facing difficult challenges in the current market that we believe can be better addressed as a private company.'
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