Davis Polk Advises Sunlands Online Education Group on Its Initial Public Offering and NYSE Listing
Davis Polk advised Sunlands Online Education Group on its SEC-registered initial public offering of 13,000,000 American depositary shares, each 25 ADSs representing one Class A ordinary share of Sunlands, for total proceeds of $149.5 million. Sunlands has granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 1,950,000 ADSs. Davis Polk also advised Sunlands on its concurrent private placement of 139,131 Class A ordinary shares to certain existing shareholders at the initial public offering price for a total purchase amount of $40 million.
Founded in 2003 as a traditional education company, Sunlands transitioned to an online education model in 2014 and offers various degree- and diploma-oriented postsecondary courses, as well as online professional courses and educational content, through its online platforms to help students prepare for STE exams and professional certification exams and attain professional skills.
The Davis Polk corporate team included partners James C. Lin and Li He and registered foreign lawyer Kevin Zhang. Counsel Alon Gurfinkel provided tax advice. Associate Zixuan (Jennifer) Wang provided 1940 Act advice. Members of the Davis Polk team are based in the Hong Kong, London and New York offices.