EC English Language Centres to wind down

EC English Language Centres (“EC”), the Malta-founded international education group, today announced that it resolved to commence formal insolvency, administration and/or winding-up processes. This follows challenging financial conditions and the failure to secure additional investment.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, EC had grown from its Maltese roots into one of the world’s leading international English-language education groups. At its peak in 2019, the Group operated across eight countries and welcomed approximately 45,000–50,000 students annually through its EC adult schools and Embassy-branded junior programmes.

The Group has faced challenging financial and market conditions in recent years, which placed significant pressure on its financial position.

Despite the efforts of the directors and management to stabilise the business and protect the interests of all stakeholders, including creditors, these conditions continued to affect the Group’s performance.

The directors took active steps throughout this period to safeguard the interests of all stakeholders, including creditors. The business was supported through additional funding from its shareholders and investors. The directors, working closely with professional advisers, explored every reasonable alternative to secure the future of the business, including discussions with a number of prospective investors and strategic parties. Despite these genuine efforts, no transaction was achieved.

When the most recent prospective transaction did not proceed, the directors took immediate steps to commence formal processes.

Against this background and having carefully considered all options available to them the directors of the relevant Maltese companies concluded that they had no reasonable alternative but to commence formal winding-up processes. This decision was taken with the interests of creditors and all stakeholders firmly in mind. Given the interconnected nature of EC’s international operations, this is expected to have consequential effects on other parts of the Group, where the appropriate administration, insolvency or wind-down procedures will be determined in accordance with local laws and circumstances.

EC’s immediate priority is to manage this process as responsibly and in as orderly a manner as circumstances permit, with particular attention to the welfare and safeguarding of students currently in its care, the fair treatment of creditors, and the interests of employees and other stakeholders. The Group is working with legal and restructuring advisers across its jurisdictions to determine the appropriate next steps.

EC deeply regrets the impact that these developments will have on its students, their families, education agents, suppliers and other partners around the world.

Above all, the directors wish to recognise EC’s employees.

For more than three decades, thousands of people have contributed to building EC from a single school in Malta into an internationally recognised education organisation. EC’s teams have demonstrated extraordinary commitment to their students and to the organisation.

Andrew Mangion, Executive Chairman of EC, said:

Further information regarding individual schools, students, employees and other stakeholders will be communicated as the relevant processes in each jurisdiction are confirmed.