RYB Education, Inc. Announces Divesture of Directly Operated Kindergarten Business and Proposes the Change of Name

RYB Education, Inc. (“RYB” or the “Company”) (NYSE: RYB) announces that its subsidiaries have entered into termination agreements with certain variable interest entities, a decision made after careful consideration of the regulatory landscape and the Company’s development needs. By entering into those termination agreements, RYB will no longer have contractual control over its directly operated kindergarten business (the “Divesture”). The Divesture aims to fully address compliance requirements with regard to relevant laws and regulations (including the Opinions of the State Council on Deepening Reform and Standardized Development of Preschool Education, the Regulations on the Implementation of the Law on the Promotion of Private Education, and the Preschool Education Law (Draft for Comments)). Concurrently, the Company is proposing to change its name from RYB Education Inc. to Gravitas Education Holdings Inc., subject to approval at the next extraordinary general meeting.

This Divestiture improves the Company’s ability to adapt to evolving industry trends, enhance compliance with regulation, expand its range of products and services, and be a strong sector leader. The Company will continue to develop its preschool education business in Singapore and overseas, and its domestic business will undergo a strategic transformation: Leveraging its long experience and deep insight in the early childhood education industry and its strength in curriculum development, teacher training and management process, the Company is well-positioned to provide end-to-end services across brand, content, systems, training, and more, to educational institutions. The divested kindergartens will continue to be operated by the current management team, ensuring consistency and continued delivery of high quality education to students.

This Divesture includes the termination of agreements by and among Beijing RYB Technology Development Co., Ltd. (“our WFOE”), Beijing RYB Children Education Technology Development Co., Ltd. (“our VIE”) and its shareholders. As compensation for the termination of VIE agreements, an aggregate amount of RMB158.5 million will be paid in installments to our WFOE. At the same time, to ensure ongoing stability and sustained provision of quality kindergarten education, our WFOE has entered into service agreements at arm’s length terms, following market prices and conditions, with our VIE. The audit committee of the board of the directors of the Company, with the assistance of a third-party financial advisor, has independently reviewed and approved the Divesture as a related party transaction at arm’s length terms. The Divesture proposal was submitted to the board of directors of the Company, and was officially approved on February 21, 2022.

Source: RYB Education, Inc.