AdvTech plans to snap up Maravest

ADVTECH plans to buy Maravest Group for R450 million to add low-fee private schools around Johannesburg and Pretoria to its offering of independent education services in the country. The transaction would be settled through a combination of shares and cash at a ratio yet to be determined, AdvTech said yesterday. The company will seek permission from investors to issue as much as 55 million shares at R7.82 each. The acquisition will bolster AdvTech’s school division by 32 percent, adding more than 4 400 pupils from nursery to high schools at six different sites. Leslie Maasdorp, who started as chief executive on October 24, is seeking lower-fee schools as South Africa struggles to improve education in the wake of apartheid. Shares closed 2.49 percent lower at R9.01 yesterday. – Bloomberg