SEA Digest: Asia Strategic Holdings signs franchising agreement with Kids&Us English; ThaiBev, Frasers Property establish JV

Asia Strategic Holdings Ltd, an independent developer and operator of consumer businesses in emerging Asia, has entered into an exclusive franchising agreement with Kids&Us English while Singapore-listed Thai Beverage and Frasers Property have established a joint venture for a potential 2.2-billion-baht (S$84.27 million) investment in BetterBe Marketplace.

Asia Strategic Holdings enters franchising agreement with Kids&Us English

Asia Strategic Holdings Ltd, an independent developer and operator of consumer businesses in emerging Asia, has entered into an exclusive franchising agreement with Kids&Us English, S.L.U for the development of English language centres for children in Vietnam under the brand “Kids&Us School of English”.

Kids&Us provides English language education for children as young as one. Founded in Manresa, Barcelona, in 2003, Kids&Us has over 155,000 students across 462 schools in Spain and another 108 schools across the globe.

Under the terms of this exclusive franchising agreement, the company shall pay Kids&Us an initial fee of approximately EUR100,000, one-off opening fees for each centre, ongoing service fees as a percentage of revenues and didactic materials based on consumption, among other fees. 

The company plans to open its first four centres in Ho Chi Minh City by September 2022.

Asia Strategic’s portfolio focuses on education and services with the view to expanding within the broader consumer sector and is located in Vietnam and Myanmar, two of the fastest-growing economies in the world over the last decade.

Earlier, the company completed the acquisition of the Wall Street English business in Vietnam. Founded in 2013, the WSE Vietnam business operates through seven centres in Ho Chi Minh and Binh Duong, serving over 3,500 students as of July 2022.

ThaiBev, Frasers Property establish JV

Singapore-listed Thai Beverage and Frasers Property have established a joint venture for a potential 2.2b baht (S$84.27 million) investment in BetterBe Marketplace, according to a filing on Singapore Stock Exchange.

The 50:50 joint venture, called FPTECH, will explore acquiring a 50% stake in BetterBe Marketplace.

BetterBe Marketplace is a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of Thailand-listed The Siam Cement Public Company Limited.

Thai Beverage said recently it will again defer the spin-off and initial public offering (IPO) of its regional beer business, BeerCo, due to recent market volatility.

The firm, chaired by one of Thailand’s richest people Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, added it will review the spin-off and listing when market conditions permit.

ThaiBev was looking to raise as much as $1 billion, Reuters had reported in May, citing sources, by selling up to a 20% stake in BeerCo.

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