STOP PRESS: Jφss Sticks Acquired!

Sorry that Miss Loi hasn’t been online for awhile. Just for all you sweet, sweet readers of this blog, the following is a preview of the press release that will probably be published in some newspapers within the next few days.

Thank you so much for your support in these few years. Hopes to get your continued patronage in the future – don’t worry Miss Loi will still be around.

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Japanese cram school operator Project A has acquired Jφss Sticks, a leading Singaporean educational website and tuition centre.

Under the deal, Project A will acquire the shares, website and all assets in Jφss Sticks, including its iconic ‘Temple’ in Novena, for cash and equity.

Commenting on the agreement, Jφss Sticks founder Celine Loi said, “I am extremely honoured and humbled by the confidence Project A has on a small boutique operation like Jφss Sticks. At the same time, I am excited by the opportunity to work with them and access the vast resources and educational experiences Project A has at their disposal.”

With this acquisition, Project A stands to establish a foothold in the Singapore private tuition market as part of its regional drive into Southeast Asia. It hopes to leverage Jφss Sticks’ winning formula and longstanding tuition experience to emulate the success of fellow Japanese operators Kumon and Sakamoto Maths.

Indeed, with up to 50,000 students flocking to its wildly popular website (www.exampaper.com.sg) monthly for ‘O’ Level mathematics tips, Project A has cause to be optimistic.

Speaking through a translator, Ryôsuke Takahashi, co-founder of Project A, stated, “We are delighted to bring Jφss Sticks into the Project A family. This acquisition accelerates our expansion into Singapore and I am confident that Jφss Sticks, with its strong presence, will give us an immediate market position here.”

When probed further on how was Jφss Sticks eventually picked, Mr Takahashi said, “We were in the midst of evaluating strategic options for Project A when my brother Keisuke drew my attention to the website of Jφss Sticks. It did not take long to impress us and we were soon in contact with Miss Loi.”

Upon completion of the acquisition, Jφss Sticks will be rebranded to Project A (Singapore) and Miss Loi is expected to scale back on her teaching duties to focus on leading the company’s educational development and strategy in Singapore.

When asked for the size of the offer that managed to pry her from the institution she had painstakingly built up in four years, a coy Miss Loi would only reveal that Project A’s offer was “simply a no-brainer to accept it”.

About Project A Co., Ltd.:

Project A Co., Ltd. (株式会社プロジェクトA) is a leading Japanese education company founded in 1999 by brothers Ryôsuke and Keisuke Takahashi.

Headquartered in Akagi, Gunma Prefecture, Project A runs 30 preparatory schools and 7 affiliated schools across Japan, offering a variety of classes dealing from elementary school subjects to preparation for prestigious high school and university entrance examinations.

Its flagship courses include its Speed Mathematics classes specially geared towards acceptance in the School of Science of Tokyo University, and the intensive “Battle Stage” revision classes typically conducted just before major exams.

In recent years, the company has diversified its offerings beyond private school courses into the development of state-of-the-art educational materials and aids for preschools, kindergartens, and schools.

In 2011, its total enrollment is 150,000 students with an annual turnover of ¥8.21 billion.

About Jφss Sticks:

Jφss Sticks is an education website, tuition centre and an online publisher of exam papers deeply committed to help Singapore secondary and junior college students ace their school and GCE ‘O’ Level & ‘A’ Level examinations.

Founded in 2007 by charismatic mathematics tutor Miss Loi, a national blog award winner and one of Singapore’s top five ‘Super Tutors’ in a Sunday Times feature article, Jφss Sticks (www.exampaper.com.sg) connects with up to 50,000 of today’s Web 2.0 student population monthly. The wildly popular blog cum website engages students via creatively infusing mathematical concepts and questions with facets of teenage lifestyle and pop culture in a way that readers learn and get entertained at the same time.

Away from the online world, Jφss Sticks exists physically as Miss Loi’s Temple – a leading boutique learning centre where hundreds have benefited from the small group tuition classes known as joss sticks sessions, in which students of different learning paces receive personalized attention to the outcome of removing their subject fears and attaining strong academic results.

Also available at www.exampaper.com.sg are Jφss Sticks’ specially designed exam papers – a series of mathematical worksheets adhering closely to Singapore’s ‘O’ Level syllabi that have benefitted hundreds of subscribers with an appetite for questions that are more challenging than the standard ‘Ten-Year Series’.

頑張って!!!

Miss Loi