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ADvTECH acquisition strengthens education business

ADvTECH, the JSE listed Education and Recruitment Group, today announced that it has acquired the Forbes Lever Baker Educational Institute for Accountancy and Management (FLB), a Johannesburg based specialised tertiary institution for R54 million. The purchase consideration will be settled by a combination of cash and ADvTECH shares.

Commenting on the acquisition, Frank Thompson, CEO of ADvTECH said: "ADvTECH has felt for some time that the acquisition of a specialised tertiary institution focused on advanced financial and accounting education was the ideal route for expansion of our education business. The combination of ADvTECH and FLB creates a company with the scale and resources to deliver a world class education.  Our combined business will address the rapidly expanding shortage of skills in South Africa. This was highlighted by SAICA at the end of last year when they announced that South Africa`s financial management and auditing sector was in need of 22 000 qualified accountants."

In 2001, Charles Forbes and Steven Lever joined forces with Nizaam Baker to form the Forbes Lever Baker Educational Institute for Accountancy and Management. From inception, FLB developed a reputation as a superior provider of accountancy based courses with UNISA. Due to increased demand for management and economics subjects, these courses have been offered by FLB since 2003 with great success. ADvTECH and FLB possess complementary strengths that advance a shared vision of delivering quality education to its growing student body.  FLB brings with it a very experienced management team and staff, with a strong focus on quality education and a reputation for solid results. The FLB campus in Randburg has approximately 2000 students on a full and part time basis.

"This acquisition represents a carefully considered move to further enhance the product and growth opportunities available to the Group," said Thompson. "Students at FLB have achieved the top B Compt Honours position for five out of the last seven years; this coupled with Varsity College`s track record of placements in the top 20, vindicates the shared imperative of adding value to students. This acquisition enables a host of synergistic benefits which can be maximised to further strengthen our offering.  We are excited about becoming part of the ADvTECH Group as our students will benefit from the breadth and depth of our combined resources and commitment to quality education," said Steven Lever, co-Head, FLB.

"We look forward to welcoming the leadership and staff of FLB into ADvTECH in the knowledge that their qualifications, expertise and industry experience will enhance our strategic and operating objectives," Thompson said. The Randburg campus of FLB will be co-branded with Varsity College. The school will run autonomously with ADvTECH`s guidance in key areas for the 2009 year, with a roll out of FLB specialty courses and notes to other Varsity Colleges during 2010. Various exciting collaborative initiatives have already been planned to realise our shared vision.

"We believe that the acquisition of FLB will contribute strongly to ADVTECH`s tertiary education activities for years to come," Thompson concluded. The acquisition is subject to the fulfilment of conditions precedent. 

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