Ping An, China’s biggest insurer, says its overseas subsidiaries will buy stakes in online education platform iTutorGroup with cash and resources.
Upon completion of the acquisition, iTutorGroup will form the core of Ping An’s education business, the Chinese insurance giant said in a statement, which also proclaims that the company is “committed to making iTutorGroup the world’s most professional, intelligent, popular and comprehensive online education platform.”
iTutorGroup, set up in 1998 in Beijing, provides English, Mathematics, Chinese and coding training courses. It has raised four rounds of fundings from 2012 and 2018. Big name investors, including Alibaba, Qiming Venture Partners, Temasek, Goldman Sachs, and CyberAgent Ventures, are among its backers.
Ping An did not disclose the value of the deal nor its ownership stake after the deal. iTutorGroup’s valuation stood at USD 1.6 billion after its last funding round in 2018.
Earlier last month, 36Kr reported that Ping An planned to take over iTutorGroup for USD 500 million. iTutorGroup denied the deal at the time.
36Kr is KrASIA’s parent company.