China's after-school English lessons provider RISE debuts on Nasdaq

NEW YORK - China's after-school English lessons provider RISE Education Cayman Ltd made its debut on the Nasdaq Stock Market on Friday, trading under the ticker symbol of "REDU".

RISE Education priced its initial public offering of 11 million American depositary shares (ADSs) at $14.50 per ADS, above the range of $12 to $14 given by the company, for a total offering size of approximately $160 million. Each ADS represents two ordinary shares.

RISE Education started trading at $16.00 per share on Friday, jumping 10.3 percent from its pricing, and was traded at $17.27 apiece around midday.

"Today is a special day for RISE Education as the Nasdaq bell will soon be rang for RISE. As an education enterprise, going public on the Nasdaq not only represents a glory, but also means a greater responsibility," said Yiding Sun, director and chief executive officer of RISE Education, shortly before the opening bell Friday.

RISE Education operates in China's junior English Language Training (ELT) market, which refers to after-school English teaching and tutoring services provided by training institutions to students aged three to 18.

"Relying on China's fast-growing education market, our company will have a better growth platform after today's IPO (Initial public offering)," Sun told Xinhua after the opening bell ceremony.

China's junior ELT market is rapidly growing, driven by favorable government policies, supportive economic conditions, and increasing cultural and societal emphasis on English education.

According to market research company Frost & Sullivan, China's junior ELT market is expected to grow to 239.8 billion yuan ($36.2 billion) in 2021 from 85.2 billion yuan in 2016.

For the six months ended on June 30, 2017, RISE Education's revenue was 437.1 million yuan, up 38.8 percent from the same six months a year ago, while its net income for the same period was 57.8 million yuan, 215.8 percent higher than the year-ago period, the company said.