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Corporate Business Profile
Corporate Profile
STI Education Systems Holdings, Inc. (PSE Code:
"STI") is a holding company geared towards the educational and
financial empowerment of the Filipino. Through its portfolio, it provides
highly relevant, accessible, and industry-wise academic programs across the
country.
STI Holdings has 5
subsidiaries, namely: STI Education Services Group, Inc. (“STI ESG”), STI West
Negros University, Inc. (“STI WNU”), Information and Communications Technology
Academy, Inc. (“iACADEMY”), Attenborough Holdings Corporation (“AHC” ) and Neschester Corporation (“Neschester”) .
STI ESG
At present, STI ESG offers secondary and
tertiary programs, as well as post-graduate and associate programs. The
colleges of STI ESG offer associate/baccalaureate degrees and
technical/vocational programs in the fields of Information and Communications
Technology (“ICT”), Business and Management, Hospitality Management, Tourism
Management, Arts and Sciences, Engineering, and Education. These programs are
accredited by the Commission on Higher Education (“CHED”) and/or the Technical
Education and Skills Development Authority (“TESDA”), as may be applicable.
Also accredited by TESDA, the education centers of STI ESG offer
technical/vocational courses for computer programming, computer technology,
multimedia arts, and office administration, among others. In addition, all
schools in the STI ESG network have been granted permit by the Department of
Education (“DepEd”) to offer Senior High School (“SHS”).
The Senior High School offering of STI ESG aims
to minimize the impact of the expected reduction in enrollment since there will
be a substantial reduction of incoming freshmen during the transition period
from Senior High School to College. Likewise, there is an opportunity for STI
ESG to increase its student retention and migration when the students graduate
from Senior High School and decide to pursue a Baccalaureate degree.
As a testament to its strong presence
nationwide, the STI ESG network has seventy-six (76) schools spread across
Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao and is comprised of sixty-four (64) STI-Branded
Colleges and twelve (12) STI-Branded Education Centers. Likewise, of these
seventy-six (76) schools, thirty-three (33) college campuses and five (5)
education centers are wholly-owned while thirty-one (31) college campuses and
seven (7) education centers are operated by franchisees.
Through the consistent efforts of management,
the STI brand has been recognized as a provider of high-quality real life
education.
In March 2017, STI ESG listed its ?3.0 Billion
Series 7-year Bonds due 2024 and Series 10-year Bonds due 2027 on the Philippine
Dealing and Exchange Corp. (“PDEx”) secondary market. The Bonds carry coupon
rates of 5.8085% and 6.3756% for the 7-year and 10-year tenors, respectively.
Interest payments are payable quarterly in arrears on June 23, September 23,
December 23, and March 23 or the next business day if such dates fall on a
non-banking day, of each year commencing on June 23, 2017, until and including
the relevant Maturity dates.
The ?3.0 billion bond issue is the first
tranche of its ?5.0 billion fixed rate bonds program under its 3-year shelf
registration with the SEC. The proceeds of the first tranche of the debt
securities program have been earmarked for the expansion of STI ESG campuses,
refinancing of short-term loans incurred for the acquisition of land, and other
general corporate requirements.
STI ESG decided to shift its focus to a more
organic expansion instead of a geographical expansion. This direction is part
of STI ESG’s commitment to continuously improve the delivery of education to
its students — by ensuring that its schools house state-of-the-art facilities
with spacious classrooms, top-of-the-line computer laboratories, and
recreational facilities. Thus, STI ESG encouraged the schools to move from
rented space into School-Owned Stand-Alone Campuses.
For the last seven years, 11 new school
facilities were constructed for 11 existing wholly-owned schools and this has
resulted in the additional uptake of around 17,500 new students. STI ESG
intends to continue this strategy and build new facilities for more schools.
STI WNU
STI Holdings acquired in October 2013, 99.45%
of the issued and outstanding common shares and 99.93% of the issued and
outstanding preferred shares of West Negros University Corp., now known as STI
West Negros University (“STI WNU”), a leading university in the City of Bacolod
in Negros Occidental.
The acquisition is part of the planned
expansion of the Company. It not only widened its course offerings at the
tertiary level but the acquisition also provided STI Holdings another entry
into basic education which is the focus of the government’s K to 12 program,
and into the graduate school level which is vital in uplifting the development
of human capital in the country.
STI WNU is strategically located at the center
of Bacolod City. The site is in close proximity to the Provincial Capitol, the
New Government Center, Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital
(“CLMMRH”) and a number of commercial buildings mainly owned by Chinese
businessmen.
The campus houses the five-storey Main
Building, three-storey HM Building, three-storey IT Building, two-storey
Engineering Building, four-storey IS Building, one-storey Institute of
Languages Building, one-storey Audio-Visual Building and other various facilities
including the Gymnasium, Football Field, and Student Activity Center.
The campus now boasts of a façade that reflects
the new University Signage – “STI West Negros University” – and showcases the
new admission office and the refurbished Kitchen & Dining Laboratory that
can be seen along Burgos Street. The Main, IT and HM buildings have been
renovated and the works were completed in February 2015. In January 2016,
the construction of the Firing Range and Swimming Pool was launched. These facilities will be used by Criminology
and Maritime students, respectively. The construction of Firing range was completed October 2017 while
the Swimming Pool was completed in August 2017.
The ground floor of the Main Building now
houses the office space for all staff and faculty. Various student
services offices, such as the clinic, guidance services, and student records
are also located here. A portion of the ground floor has been prepared for
the state of the art Maritime Simulator Room. All in all, the Main
Building has 62 classrooms and laboratories that are equipped with
air-conditioning and multimedia projection systems.
The IT building houses four computer
laboratories, one speech laboratory and twelve classrooms, while the HM
Building houses the newly re-modeled HRM Laboratories such as the Kitchen, Food
& Beverage Room, Hotel Suite and Front Desk Area. The HM Building
also provides a multi-purpose area and six additional classrooms that are also
equipped with air-conditioning and multimedia projection systems.
In June 2016, STI WNU was granted permit to
operate its Maritime Training Center for the following non-simulator programs:
·
Consolidated Marine Pollution 73/78 Annexes
I-VI
·
Ship Security Officer (“SSO”)
·
Seafarer Security Awareness Training (“SSAT”) /
Seafarer with Designated Security Duties (“SDSD”)
In October 2017, MARINA granted STI WNU full
course approval for the simulator program Ratings Forming Part of a
Navigational Watch (“RFPNW”).
Beginning School Year (“SY”) 2016-2017, STI WNU
had set new directions through its new vision of becoming a leading university
in the Negros Island Region by 2025, driven by passion for academic excellence
through innovation. The school also has committed to produce excellent quality
graduates who are able to meet and uphold the standards of the industry in
pursuit of a better Filipino family and nation.
iACADEMY
In September 2016, STI Holdings purchased 100%
of iACADEMY’s issued and outstanding capital stock from STI ESG. STI Holdings
also subscribed to 100.0 million of the 400.0 million increase in the
authorized capital stock of iACADEMY, which was approved by the SEC in November
2016.
iACADEMY is the premier school in the Group
that specializes in course offerings in animation, multimedia arts and design,
fashion design and technology, software engineering and game programming and
design. It also offers Senior High
School. The school is located in Makati - the Central Business District of
Metro Manila. It started in 2002, as a wholly-owned subsidiary of STI ESG, with
an initial class of 72 students. iACADEMY’s transfer to iACADEMY Plaza in SY
2014-2015 accommodated its growing student population. The auditorium, commissioned with its lights
and sounds fixtures located at the 2nd floor, has a 450-500 seating
capacity. iACADEMY occupies 9 floors of
the 11-storey building. All 9 floors
have been designed to provide modern facilities with the entire 7th
floor equipped with top of the line computer suites that provide necessities of
education including high-speed internet at 35 Mbps each from two internet
service providers.
At the beginning of SY 2015-2016, iACADEMY had
994 students enrolled. The faculty is comprised of both experienced
academicians and industry practitioners. iACADEMY prides itself in being the first
Wacom Authorized training partner in the Philippines, as well as the first
college in the ASEAN region to be appointed as an IBM Center of Excellence.
Aside from bringing in industry professionals to teach at iACADEMY, the school
also has an impressive internship program, which is one of the most intensive
in the country today. Under this program, iACADEMY student interns work
full-time in partner companies for at least 960 hours. This model has resulted
in a 96% job placement rate within the first six (6) months after graduation.
On August 10, 2015, DepEd granted iACADEMY’s
permit to offer Senior High School. iACADEMY is now offering three SHS tracks.
iACADEMY changed its school calendar starting
SY 2016-2017 from May of each year to July for tertiary level and August for
SHS.
On October 19, 2016, iACADEMY signed a
Licensing Agreement to Offer a Graduate Business Program with DePaul University
(“DePaul”) of Chicago, Illinois, United States of America. The agreement is in accordance with the
CHED’s approval for iACADEMY to operate as a Transnational Education (“TNE”)
provider for the Master in Business Administration program in partnership with
DePaul as the degree granting institution.
The Government Authority (“GA”) is valid for a
period of three years, 2016 to 2018, and shall be subject to revocation if
iACADEMY fails to operate in accordance with the laws of the Republic of the
Philippines and/or fails to maintain the prescribed standards of instruction
and/or fails to comply with the rules and regulations pertaining to the
organization, administration and supervision of private/public Higher Education
Institutions (“HEIs”) in the Philippines. This GA applies only to the iACADEMY
Plaza campus.
AHC is a
100% owned subsidiary of STI Holdings.
The parent company subscribed to 40% of its shares in November 2014 and
eventually bought the balance of 60% of its outstanding capital stock in
February 2015. At the time of purchase, it had receivables from Unlad which it
eventually assigned to STI Holdings on March 1, 2016.
AHC is not operating as of March 31, 2017.
Neschester is also
a 100% owned subsidiary of STI Holdings. It is a real estate company whose
major asset is a parcel of land in Makati City with an area of 2,332.5 sq.
m. On September 20, 2016, iACADEMY had
its groundbreaking ceremony on this parcel of land, which will be the site of
its Yakal campus housing the Senior High School students. Building construction is in full swing and
the floors set to be utilized for the school will be completed in December
2017. Students will start using the
facility in January 2018.
