AdvTech Group rejects Curro bid

Friday, July 31, 2015

Pretoria - Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi has welcomed Curro’s failed bid to take over AdvTeck Group, says Gauteng Education Department.

This follows the announcement by the Board of AdvTeck Group that the Board has taken a decision to reject Curro’s proposal to acquire AdvTech.

"We should not allow one dominant player to control private education in our country," MEC Lesufi said on Thursday.

AdvTech has educational brands such as the Independent Institute of Education (The IIE), Junior Colleges, Abbotts College, Crawford Schools, Trinityhouse, Centurus Colleges, AdvTech Academies, Maravest Group, The Design School Southern Africa, The Forbes Lever Baker Educational Institute for Accountancy and Management (FLB), Rosebank College, Varsity College and Vega.

Their campuses are in three provinces including Gauteng, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

The MEC has congratulated the directors, management, staff and parents of AdvTech Group for refusing to be swallowed by Curro Holdings.

“If the deal succeeded, this would have made private education to be more expensive and thus denying majority access to private education. It would have also made the sector to be dominated by one player and thus eliminate competition in the sector,” said MEC Lesufi.

The MEC further called on Curro Holdings to declare that they will stop chasing after AdvTech and concentrate on the expansion strategy. - SAnews.gov.za