Wednesday, October 6, 2010 Language Schools Nova, Geos Get Yet Another New OwnerTOKYO (Nikkei)-- Restaurant operator G.communication Co. has sold its subsidiary that runs the language schools Nova and Geos to an investment fund managed by its founder and former chairman. The Oct. 1 transaction was apparently triggered by the fact that G.communication's parent company, Foody's Co., has been hit hard by the recent failure of Incubator Bank of Japan. Investors in Foody's include businesses with close ties to the bank. G.education Co. had just taken over the operations of Geos this April after the school's previous operator went belly up. G.education acquired Nova's operations in 2007 following the bankruptcy filing of the school's former operator. G.education is now 66% owned by the investment fund, which is headed by Masaki Inayoshi. (The Nikkei Oct. 6 morning edition) http://e.nikkei.com/e/fr/tnks/Nni20101006D05JFA03.htm
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Geos, Nova English schools change ownership once again The Yomiuri Shimbun G.communication Co. has sold off the failed English conversation school chain Geos, which it took over in April, along with the Nova chain of English schools, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned. An investment company led by Masaki Inayoshi, who formerly served as chairman of G.communication, purchased the subsidiary of the Nagoya-based firm that ran both Geos and Nova, under a contract that took effect Friday, informed sources said. Inayoshi's purchase of the two English school chains followed a decision by Foody's Co., the parent of G.communication, to withdraw from the operation of Geos and Nova. The decision came in the wake of the bankruptcy on Sept. 10 of Incubator Bank of Japan, the major banking partner of Foody's, according to the sources. The failure of the bank gave rise to concern over Foody's financial management. Foody's engages mainly in extending financial and human resources backing to restaurants and related businesses, they said. Nova has 490 locations and Geos 167. The firm newly in charge of running the Nova and Geos schools says it expects no major problems with their operations, the sources said. (Oct. 6, 2010) http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/business/T101005004522.htm
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Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010 Nova, Geos now under investment fund's wing By NATSUKO FUKUE Staff writer Nagoya-based G. communication Co. last week sold Nova Corp. and Geos Corp., two major foreign language school chains, to an investment fund. The fund, Inayoshi Capital Partners, run by recently retired G. communication founder Masaki Inayoshi, acquired the stakes Friday by purchasing shares of G. education Co., a G. communication spokeswoman said. Seven Geos language schools overseas, in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand, will remain G. communication subsidiaries. "Both Nova and Geos will continue their operations, and we believe this will not affect the students," the spokeswoman said, adding both brands will be maintained. G. communications took over the operations of Geos just six months ago after the chain filed for bankruptcy with net debts of \7.5 billion. The corporation purchased Nova in 2007 after the school chain went bankrupt. The spokeswoman said the decision to sell off the two school chains was made because Kobe-based food and beverage distributor Hanshin Shuhan Inc. is poised to become the parent company of G. communications and wants to focus on its mainstay business. Tokyo-based Foody's Co. now owns a majority in G. communications but has agreed to sell its entire stake to Hanshin Shuhan. According to the Asahi Shimbun, Foody's is planning to sell its stake partly because of expected financial difficulties due to the recent bankruptcy of its main creditor, Incubator Bank of Japan. Foreign-language schools have seen a decline in sales and enrollment recently. According to the trade ministry, average monthly sales at language schools fell to \5.1 billion this year from \8.1 billion in 2007. The corresponding monthly enrollment figure decreased to 335,827 from 619,642 students. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20101005x3.html
