Ayala, Yuchengco seal merger of school units

MANILA, Philippines — The Ayala and Yuchengco Groups have executed their plan to merge their education units after obtaining the approval of the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC).

The two groups are merging their respective educational institutions AC Education and iPeople Inc.  iPeople will be the surviving entity.

“The merger will bring together the seven educational institutions of iPeople and AC Education, which together will offer quality education to students across all income segments, with campuses in Metro Manila, Calabarzon, the Bicol Region and Mindanao,” the two companies said in separate disclosure reports.

The merger will include iPeople and its significant subsidiary, Malayan Education System Inc., which operates under the name of Mapua University, one of the country’s leading engineering and technical universities.

It will also include iPeople’s Malayan Colleges Laguna, the best board exam performing private higher education institution in Calabarzon, Malayan Colleges Mindanao in Davao, and Malayan Science High School in Manila.

“It will also include AC Education and its subsidiaries, the University of Nueva Caceres, one of the oldest and largest universities in Bicol, National Teachers College, the country’s pioneer private teachers’ training tertiary education institution, and APEC Schools, the largest chain of private stand-alone high schools in the country,” the two companies said.

PCC said the transaction would not  likely result in substantial lessening of competition because there exists sufficient post-transaction competition constraint from other market participants in the identified relevant markets.

The merger is touted as a marriage of two giants aimed at capturing the growing student market in the country through affordable but quality education.

iPeople Inc., is the education subsidiary of Yuchengco-owned House of Investments Inc.

The merger will bring together a population of over 40,000 students.

Ayala Corp., currently led by brothers Jaime Augusto and Fernando Zobel de Ayala, is the oldest conglomerate in the country with businesses in banking, telecoms, property and water. In recent years, it also expanded into health, energy and education.

The Yuchengco Group, meanwhile, has businesses in banking, automotive, insurance and education, among others. It is led by Helen Yuchengco Dee, daughter of the group’s founding chairman, banking taipan and former ambassador, the late Alfonso Yuchengco.