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| Tuesday, 2 July 2013, 15:00 HKT/SGT | |
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Source: Pearson | |
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| Kirihara Shoten K.K. to focus on textbooks and services for Japanese high-schools, Pearson Japan on tertiary sales, assessments, qualifications, educational services and consulting |
TOKYO, July 2, 2013 - (ACN Newswire) - Pearson announced today that it will transfer ownership and control of the Kirihara schools publishing business to a team of senior managers through an MBO. This new business will be called Kirihara Shoten K.K., already a well-established and respected education brand in Japan.
As Pearson pursues a global approach to the education business, this MBO will give Kirihara Shoten the autonomy and independence to fully realize its potential as a leading provider of high school education products and services for the Japanese education market. Pearson Japan will continue to operate in Japan as a part of the Pearson global education business focusing on tertiary sales, assessments, qualifications, educational services and consultancy.
Pearson will continue to support Kirihara Shoten by providing short term financial support as well as access to products and services through a distribution agreement, but will have no management or ownership interest.
Kirihara Shoten will be headed by Satoshi Saito, as President & Representative Director. He will be supported by four senior managers (Manabu Konno, Kunihito Karasawa, Masaya Monma and Kazuaki Sugihara) who will become Directors of the new company. Saito is an eighteen year veteran of the educational publishing industry and has held the Publishing Director role at Pearson Kirihara and Pearson Longman Japan for eight years. Prior to this he also served as Managing Director of Macmillan Language House for five years.
The legal transfer of the business takes place today but actual implementation is expected to require a transition period of up to three months. All current office locations around Japan will remain open. Approximately 190 employees will remain with Kirihara Shoten, and around 30 in the Pearson Japan business.
"Pearson Japan and Kirihara Shoten wish to assure all suppliers and vendors that this transfer will not have any immediate impact on those relationships," said Brendan Delahunty, President & Representative Director, Pearson Japan, and Satoshi Saito, President & Representative Director, Kirihara Shoten in a joint statement. "By allowing Kirihara to take a localized approach to the Japanese market management believes that there will be increased opportunities to develop even more appropriate products for the Japanese market. Kirihara Shoten believes this MBO will be positive for customers as it will allow it to focus 100% of its resources on its core competency of providing high quality products and services that are specifically designed for the needs of Japanese high-schools, teachers and students."
Kirihara Shoten will continue its relationships with authors and suppliers to ensure it continues to supply high-schools, teachers and students with textbooks and services of the quality they have come to expect. Kirihara Shoten will also continue to supply some Pearson products through a distributor agreement with Pearson.
Contact Information
Masaya Monma
Administration Department
Kirihara Shoten K.K.
Phone: +81-3-5339-8550
Mieko Otaka
General Administration Department
Pearson Japan K.K.
Phone: +81-3-5326-3427
Topic: Press release summary
Source: Pearson
Sectors: Daily Finance, Daily News
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From the Asia Corporate News Network
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