- Bright Scholar Education Holdings completes privatisation, officially delisting from the New York Stock Exchange and becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Excellence Education Investment
- Privatisation backed by founding family of Country Garden, consolidating control through a buyer group including chairman Zhou Hongru, CEO Niu Ruolei, and major shareholders holding 78.2% of shares
- Move positions Bright Scholar for long-term private growth, free from public market pressures, building on its legacy from Country Garden School (founded 1994) to a global education company
Bright Scholar Education Holdings, the education company whose owners include members of the founding family of property developer Country Garden, has completed its privatisation and officially delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. The transaction, announced on December 16, 2025, saw the company become a wholly owned subsidiary of Excellence Education Investment, part of a buyer group that included Bright Scholar’s chairman Zhou Hongru, CEO Niu Ruolei, and three major shareholders collectively holding 78.2% of the company’s shares. The cash consideration for the privatisation was USD 0.575 per share.
The transaction brought together a high-profile legal advisory team across multiple jurisdictions. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher served as US legal adviser to the special committee of Bright Scholar’s board, with the team led by Singapore office partner Xue Fang and including Orange County partner Colin Davis. Baker McKenzie acted as US legal adviser to Bright Scholar, led by Ouyang Dan, co-head of the Asia-Pacific and China capital markets practice, and supported by FenXun partner Ronnie Li.
Conyers Dill & Pearman provided guidance on British Virgin Islands law, with consultant David Lamb and Hong Kong counsel Beverly Cheung forming the core team. King & Wood Mallesons acted as lead counsel to the buyer group, delivering comprehensive legal services with international partner Wang Xinghua from its Beijing and Shenzhen offices and New York partner Liu Ning. Appleby advised the buyer group on Cayman Islands law, led by David Bulley, managing partner of its Hong Kong and Shanghai offices, along with Shanghai corporate partner Hannah Yao.
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The buyer group itself is closely tied to the Country Garden founding family. Excellence Education Investment and Ultimate Wise Group are both incorporated in the British Virgin Islands and indirectly wholly owned by TMF Trust (HK), trustee of the Yeung Family Trust V established by Yang Meirong and Yang Huiyan. Sure Brilliant Global, also a BVI company, is wholly owned by Yang Huiyan. Yang Meirong is the sister of Country Garden founder Yang Guoqiang, while Yang Huiyan, his daughter, currently serves as chair of Country Garden.
Bright Scholar’s roots trace back to the Country Garden School, founded in 1994. The company was reorganised as Country Garden Education Group in 2014, rebranded as Bright Scholar in 2017, and listed on the NYSE the same year. Yang Huiyan, who previously chaired Bright Scholar and led its US initial public offering, stepped down in November 2022 to succeed her father as chair of Country Garden.
In April 2022, Yang Huiyan and Yang Meirong had initially proposed a privatisation of Bright Scholar at USD 0.83 per share, but the offer was withdrawn later that year in December. With the completion of the latest transaction, the family-backed group has now fully consolidated ownership, allowing Bright Scholar to operate as a privately held entity, potentially positioning it for long-term strategic growth away from public market pressures.
