GreenTree Hospitality Group Ltd. (NYSE: GHG) (“GreenTree” or the “Company”), a leading franchised hotel operator in China, today announced that it has closed a HK$40 millioninvestment to acquire 27,776,000 ordinary shares in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (“HKSE”) initial public offering of China Gingko Education Group Company Limited (“Gingko”). Gingkois a pioneer in developing and providing higher education services for the hospitality industry in China. Gingko was founded in 2002 by Mr. Gongyu Fang, a visionary entrepreneur in this field. With nearly 10,000 students on campus, Gingko is currently ranked as China’s number one hospitality university by the “Gaosan Web Association”, an authoritative website with introductions to and rankings of universities in China.
Mr. Fang, Chairman and CEO of Gingko, welcomed GreenTree’s investment. “We are pleased to have GreenTree as our investor. This transaction is part of both companies’ larger plan to cultivate professional talents for the hospitality industry in China. It is a truly win-win cooperation that combines Gingko’s deep expertise in education with industry experience from GreenTree, a leading player.” Mr. Alex Xu, Chairman and CEO of GreenTree, echoed, “Mr. Fang has done a tremendous job of building Gingko’s superior educational platform. We feel privileged to work together with him and his team as part of our strategy to further enhance and develop talents for our companies and for China’s hospitality industry generally.”
