Alpha DX enters MOU with DiDi Investments to acquire Japanese academy

LEARNING solutions firm Alpha DX Group on Tuesday announced that it has entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with DiDi Investments to acquire its Japan-based private higher education institution, DiDi Academy.

Through the agreement, students of DiDi Academy in Japan will be able to enrol in courses including full bachelor and master degrees directly from its overseas partner universities through a universal learning platform by 2023, without needing to leave the country, said the group in a stock exchange filing.

Chief executive officer of Alpha DX Daiji Yamada said: "Through this acquisition, Alpha DX is looking to accelerate its business plans to expand its academic and digital transformation service offerings in the Japanese market."

This is not Alpha DX's first collaboration with DiDi Investments. In April, the group said it would acquire the latter's Singapore-based education institution, ERC Institute (ERCI), for about S$24 million.

But the acquisition of ERCI has since been postponed due to "a potential issue between DiDi Investments and the previous owner of (ERCI)", the company on Tuesday said in a separate bourse filing. It added that it has terminated the sale and purchase agreement and will revisit it when "the issue(s) have been satisfactorily resolved".

The deal would require ERCI to enter a definitive agreement with the Uzbekistan government to generate a secured annual revenue exceeding S$4 million. The institution would also need to enter a definitive partnership agreement with two or more new universities that would collectively increase its total number of student enrolments by at least 40 per cent as compared with the previous year.

Due to the postponement, Alpha DX said it would shift its strategic priority to pursue other potential investments, acquisitions and strategic partnerships in the learning and education sectors of Japan, Singapore and other Asian countries. The group would also continue to develop and expand its learning platform in the meantime, it added.

ERCI offers an exclusive territorial licence to DiDi Academy to provide all of its academic and training programmes and contents in the Japanese market, Alpha DX said.

Shares of Alpha DX were up 2.3 per cent or S$0.01 at S$0.44, as at 3.44pm on Tuesday.