Company plans to merge with Gravitas Education
Holdings, Inc. to deliver greater strategic and operational
focus
SEATTLE, April 19,
2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Promethean, a leading
global education technology company, announced today that its
parent company, NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited, has
approved a plan and entered into the related agreements to spin off
the Promethean group of entities into a separate company that will
subsequently merge with Gravitas Education Holdings, Inc., a public
company.
Following the merger, expected to be completed in Q3, Promethean
will benefit from operating as a standalone company separate from
NetDragon, listed on the NYSE, with a distinct board and management
team of world-class leaders focused on driving shareholder value.
The new holding company will be renamed to MYND.AI at the
transaction's closing to reflect the new brand and the company's
direction to pursue the transformation of artificial intelligence
(AI) in education.
Merging with Gravitas Education Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: GEHI) will
enable the company to grow its global education business
sustainably and further the development of new innovative
technologies like AI. Promethean has expanded its product offerings
to include software and AI in the past year. This merger is the
next stage in the evolution of the company's goal to strengthen its
global position in the market and remain the market leader in the
U.S. and EMEA.
"The decision to spin off our overseas education business
advances our ability to create value for customers and
shareholders. Our business is at an exciting market inflection
point as the world moves toward accelerating the application of AI
in virtually all industries. We believe we are well ahead of the
market in pushing forward the effective and practical use of AI in
education, especially in the classroom," said Dr. Simon Leung, vice chairman of NetDragon and
chairman of MYND.AI, upon closing of the transaction. "As we
execute our plan to transform education with AI, this spinoff
transaction will provide the right platform for the MYND.AI team to
pursue our goal of becoming the dominant category leader in the
AI-enabled classroom technology space. We are excited about our
path ahead, and I want to thank our shareholders for their support
as we embark on this journey together."
"As the classroom evolves, we continue to look to the future to
provide innovative educational technology solutions that transform
teaching and learning. We are excited to be at the forefront of
integrating AI into our products that will add true education
value, leveraging our investment in AI technology and our deep
understanding of customer needs over the past 25 years," said
Vin Riera, CEO at Promethean and
MYND.AI, upon closing of the transaction. "This exciting new
chapter will build on our mission to design learning and
collaboration tools that deliver the most effective learning
outcomes for teachers and students."
Learn more about Promethean here.
About Promethean
Promethean is a leading education
technology company working to transform the way the world learns
and collaborates. From our founding in Blackburn, England, more than 25 years ago to
our global operations in 22 countries today, we've continued to
explore, innovate, and inspire —designing learning and
collaboration tools that are built for breakthroughs. Our
award-winning interactive display, ActivPanel, and lesson delivery
software, ActivInspire and ClassFlow, were designed to engage
students, connect colleagues, and bring out the brilliance in
everyone. With headquarters in Seattle,
Washington, and offices worldwide, Promethean is a member of
the NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (HKSE: 0777) group of
companies. Visit us at PrometheanWorld.com.
About NetDragon
NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited
(HKSE: 0777) is a global leader in building internet communities
with a long track record of developing and scaling multiple
internet and mobile platforms that impact hundreds of millions of
users, including previous establishments of China's first
online gaming portal, 17173.com, and China's most
influential smartphone app store platform, 91 Wireless.
Established in 1999, NetDragon is one of the most reputable and
well-known online game developers in China with a history
of successful game titles including Eudemons
Online, Heroes Evolved, Conquer
Online and Under Oath. In recent years,
NetDragon has also started to scale its online education business
on the back of management's vision to create the largest global
online learning community, and to bring best-in-class integrated
blended learning solutions to every school around the world. Visit
us at http://www.netdragon.com/.
©2023 Promethean. All Rights Reserved. Promethean, the
Promethean logo, ActivPanel, ActivSync, ActivInspire, ActivConnect,
ActivSound, ClassFlow, Vellum, and ActivPen are trademarks or
registered trademarks of Promethean Limited in the United Kingdom, United States, and other countries around the
world. All other product and company names are trademarks or
registered trademarks of their respective holders. Unless
specifically identified as such, Promethean's use of third-party
trademarks does not indicate any relationship, sponsorship, or
endorsement between Promethean and the owners of these
trademarks.
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SOURCE Promethean