Editorial Summary

London-based education group Pearson announced on Wednesday that it has acquired two Chinese English language training companies. The two companies are Learning Education Center (LEC), which was founded in 2000 and has 17 schools, and Dell English, which was founded in 1999 and has over 20 schools. The acquisition price was not announced. Learning is primarily focused on the Shanghai market, while Dell is focused on Beijing. Pearson's press release said that LEC and Dell English had combined revenue of approximately $10 million in 2007. The two schools will operate under the "Learning" brand. Pearson owns book publisher Penguin Books and the Financial Times.