Promethean, a leading global education technology company, announced today that its parent company, NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited, has approved a plan and entered into the related agreements to spin off the Promethean group of entities into a separate company that will subsequently merge with Gravitas Education Holdings, Inc., a public company.
Following the merger, expected to be completed in Q3, Promethean will benefit from operating as a standalone company separate from NetDragon, listed on the NYSE, with a distinct board and management team of world-class leaders focused on driving shareholder value. The new holding company will be renamed to MYND.AI at the transaction's closing to reflect the new brand and the company's direction to pursue the transformation of artificial intelligence (AI) in education.
Merging with Gravitas Education Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: GEHI) will enable the company to grow its global education business sustainably and further the development of new innovative technologies like AI. Promethean has expanded its product offerings to include software and AI in the past year. This merger is the next stage in the evolution of the company's goal to strengthen its global position in the market and remain the market leader in the U.S. and EMEA.
"The decision to spin off our overseas education business advances our ability to create value for customers and shareholders. Our business is at an exciting market inflection point as the world moves toward accelerating the application of AI in virtually all industries. We believe we are well ahead of the market in pushing forward the effective and practical use of AI in education, especially in the classroom," said Dr. Simon Leung, vice chairman of NetDragon and chairman of MYND.AI, upon closing of the transaction. "As we execute our plan to transform education with AI, this spinoff transaction will provide the right platform for the MYND.AI team to pursue our goal of becoming the dominant category leader in the AI-enabled classroom technology space. We are excited about our path ahead, and I want to thank our shareholders for their support as we embark on this journey together."
"As the classroom evolves, we continue to look to the future to provide innovative educational technology solutions that transform teaching and learning. We are excited to be at the forefront of integrating AI into our products that will add true education value, leveraging our investment in AI technology and our deep understanding of customer needs over the past 25 years," said Vin Riera, CEO at Promethean and MYND.AI, upon closing of the transaction. "This exciting new chapter will build on our mission to design learning and collaboration tools that deliver the most effective learning outcomes for teachers and students."
About Promethean
Promethean is a leading education technology company working to transform the way the world learns and collaborates. From our founding in Blackburn, England, more than 25 years ago to our global operations in 22 countries today, we've continued to explore, innovate, and inspire —designing learning and collaboration tools that are built for breakthroughs. Our award-winning interactive display, ActivPanel, and lesson delivery software, ActivInspire and ClassFlow, were designed to engage students, connect colleagues, and bring out the brilliance in everyone. With headquarters in Seattle, Washington, and offices worldwide, Promethean is a member of the NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (HKSE: 0777) group of companies.