Spark Education, a K-12 after-school online tutoring platform in China, withdrew its plans for an initial public offering on Wednesday, citing market conditions. It originally filed in June 2021 with a proposed deal size of $100 million.
Spark Education's after-school tutoring platform is designed to help students develop lifelong skills like creativity, critical thinking, and problem solving, unlike other exam-oriented learning approaches. The company offers three main subjects: mathematical thinking, Chinese, and English. Classes primarily include four to eight students. The company was the largest online small-class education company in China by gross billings in 2020.
The Beijing, China-based company was founded in 2017 and booked $226 million in revenue for the 12 months ended March 31, 2021. It had planned to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol SPRK. Credit Suisse, Citi, CICC, Futu Securities, and Tiger Brokers were set to be the joint bookrunners on the deal.
