Tal Education Group (TAL)

[JohnCM]

China's EdTech Assault Hits Investors From Tiger to Temasek

Lulu Yilun Chen
Sat, July 24, 2021, 8:20 AM

(Bloomberg) -- Global investors from Tiger Global Management to Temasek Holdings Pte are reeling after China imposed the harshest curbs yet on its $100 billion private tutoring and online education sector.

China on Saturday ordered companies that offer tutoring on the school curriculum to go non-profit, potentially wiping out a big chunk of the billions that private equity and venture capital funds have staked on a once red-hot sector.

The platforms have lost their ability to go public -- depriving their backers of the exits they need to cash out. Foreign capital was banned from the sector, with uncertain ramifications for the likes of Singapore’s Temasek and GIC Pte as well as Warburg Pincus and SoftBank’s Vision Fund, which have all invested in many of the industry’s big players. Those in violation of that rule must take steps to rectify the situation, the country’s most powerful administrative authority said, without elaborating.

Beijing on Saturday published a plethora of regulations that together threaten to upend the sector. The nationwide crackdown stems from a deeper backlash against the industry, as excessive tutoring torments youths and burdens parents with expensive fees. Once regarded as a sure-fire way for aspiring children (and parents) to get ahead, it’s now also viewed as an impediment to one of Xi Jinping’s top priorities: boosting a declining birth rate.

Investors risk having to mark down their portfolio drastically or worse, getting battered in a selloff. On Friday, some of the industry’s biggest names, including New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc., TAL Education Group, Gaotu Techedu Inc. and Koolearn Technology Holding Ltd. tumbled after details of the impending clampdown surfaced.