Japan Today - News - Nagoya-based G.communication to take over part of Nova operations

OSAKA — G.communication, a Nagoya-based operator of cram schools, language schools and restaurant chains, has been selected to take over part of the operations of failed language school chain Nova Corp, the two companies said Tuesday.

"Our company has been unofficially selected to become a sponsoring company to fund Nova's operations," G.communication said in a press statement.

G.communication said its wholly owned subsidiary, G. Education Co, which runs a chain of 42 English conversation schools under the brand of EC Inc, mainly in Hokkaido, will take over part of Nova's operations.

G.communication said the subsidiary will initially take over the operations of 30 Nova schools from Nova's nationwide network of 670 schools and resume lessons.

The company said it will seek to build up a network of 200 schools.

G.communcation is likely to pay part of salaries yet to be paid by Nova to foreign instructors and Japanese employees, using the state's related system.

On Oct 26, Nova filed for court protection from creditors under the Corporate Rehabilitation Law as the scandal-tainted company gave up on trying to turn itself around on its own.

Nova said it sought Osaka District Court protection under the weight of debts estimated at 43.9 billion yen, pledging efforts to find a sponsor for its rehabilitation under the supervision of court-appointed administrators to be appointed by the court.

The court subsequently appointed lawyers Toshiaki Higashibata and Noriaki Takahashi as the administrators.

Addressing a news conference called late Tuesday night, the administrators said they have decided to liquidate Nova after handing over part of its operations to G.communication.

"The corporate value of Nova has been eroded each day" due to employees and students quickly leaving Nova, one of the administrators said, adding the administrators had to select a sponsor quickly even before the court approved Nova's reconstruction program.

The Corporate Rehabilitation Law, revised in 2003, authorizes a failed firm to sell its operations on the basis of brief court permission — even before the court gives full-fledged approval to its reconstruction program.

G.communication officials said the company will use the brand of Nova for the schools that will belong to the envisioned network of language schools.

The press statement said G.communication does not intend to assume the obligation to pay off the tuition fees which Nova students have already paid to Nova when concluding lesson contracts.

At present, Nova has 300,000 students. One of the administrators said the Nova incident is likely to cause financial damage to "the largest number of creditors," including these students, in postwar Japan.

But the company said it will do its utmost to provide assistance to Nova students.

In the initial phase of operations after taking over the Nova schools, G.communication said it will arrange for Nova students to receive the same levels of language education services as Nova's at fees equivalent to 25% of the tuition fees they have paid to Nova.

As for Nova employees, G.communication said it will do all it can to provide job security for them.

Down 2 yen from opening. Now trading at 15 yen a share.

Oh dear. But if the company is at least going to stay afloat, sure the price will make a recovery sometime, right?

On one had I'd say G-whatever is making a huge mistake. (Unions, debts, public trust, etc.)

On the other hand... IT'S ONLY ONLY ONLY (get my point?) ONLY ONLY 30 schools.

Do you really think you'll get your job back... SUCKER?

Wow, as someone posted above, EC has a terrible reputation in Hokkaido. Doing things like spying on teachers, giving hardly any holidays, low salaries with no pay raises. I'd like to wish those Nova instructors who decide to join this company good luck, because they are going to need it.
Also this is not a bail out, they are cherry picking the best 30 schools and locations. They aren't taking on any of the debt, and students will still have to pay out some costs to continue to study.

"Sometimes the best deal is the one that
isn't made."
Talk about operating from a position of weakness.
With those terms,I coulda bought Nova.

I think hachmike has put it well. This is not a bail out - but a bit of cherry picking. 30 lucky landlords, some very cheap lessons for some students who live in convenient areas. Everyone else, SOL.

I haven't seen the full press release, but when they say they'd like to eventually have a network of 200 schools, I assume that means, the 42 they have already + the 30 they are picking up now + another 128 they'd like to re-open or newly open, after seeing how they do with their initial investment.

When hiring, I imagine none of the known union members will have a chance. Wages and conditions at this company (if we believe what we read on the net) appear to be poor enough to keep away anyone who's serious enough about wages and conditions to be paying union dues.

Sympathies to all who were hoping for some sort of white knight riding in on a miracle.

...this company has a very bad reputation, especially in Hokkaido and there's just no way they can pull Nova out of the ashes. More likely it'll be them turning ex Nova schools into EC offices and schools.
They are a cram school for pity's sake - doesn't the J-government think the market is already flooded with these damn cram schools already?

Said it before, but obviously needs to be said again - students are only going to go back and get their money or at least lessons they paid for. Then they'll leave.

However, my advice to anyone considering even thinking of working for EC is DON'T. Especially if you're an ex Nova drone. You'd be better off exchanging lessons for food rather than working for EC!

Actually, some people would be better off working for the company even for a short time considering the financial situation they're in, rather than working for mere food to put in their mouths. Unless they want to build a rent free, city tax free, utility bill free igloo out of onigiri, and can find such living arrangements acceptable. Especially if they have only been in Japan a short time and would like to see the country without having to go home after this whole ordeal and come back to retry again just because of Nova.

Of course, some may have no choice but to leave, but still, this company isn't the Khmer Rouge.

"a Nagoya-based operator of cram schools, language schools and restaurant chains"

I never thought there was much difference between teaching Ingurishu in Japan and working in the service industry. Now it's confirmed.

* G.communication said it will arrange for Nova *students to receive the same levels of language *education services as Nova's at fees equivalent *to 25% of the tuition fees they have paid to Nova.

25 percent of Nova s fee ?

They are not school operators but professional liars. Even if they paid the instructors 500 yen per hour and found the magical way to fill every lesson with 3 students when these students wish to study...even then, they would have to charge more than that.

I knew it wouldnt die so easily. Wow, its gonna be daggers in the waiting room for the interviews as all the escapists clamber over one another for a chance to preserve their precious paradise. It dont matter who is shafting them. Nova, EC, Gabba, they tolerate it just to stay in Japan and bring the whole working environment down for real professionals.

EC, G.Communication...call it whatever you like...this company has a very bad reputation, especially in Hokkaido and there's just no way they can pull Nova out of the ashes.

G.Communication took over EC last year. The parent company of G.Communication is basically a food service company/restauranteur. In Sapporo, for instance, they own Heiroku-zushi on Eki-mae Dori St. and a place that I think is called Otaru Shokudo on Route 36. Both are pretty good places to eat.

EC is known as a workers' paradise. Unfortunately, it's in the same sense that the Russian gulag was a workers' paradise. Among students, however, the school is generally regarded as a good place to study. According to my sources, the new management has instituted "Nagayo style" financial policies. To parse this, it helps to know that Nagoyans are described as "canny businesspeople," or less euphemistically, "the Scots of Japan" or "the Jews of Japan." (Apologies to those respective groups.) Perhaps such financial acumen can put Nova back on track. If not, laddies and lassies, it's Auld Langsyne.

Just to stay in Japan and bring the whole working environment down for real professionals.

Beneath your usual post standard. There's nothing at all wrong with these people being here, part of the service industry or not.
Fact of the matter is, unless your licensed as a professional with Japanese
accreditation, 'a professional' is a moot point.
We're pretty much all hear scraping together a living, let's drop the superior
tone, huh?

In all ways of decorating the packages, be it gold or platinum, in the end it's just stealing candy from a baby. IMO, instead of seeking for some big company to support them and get resources, why don't people just contact their students work out some type of deal which they don't have to contract, and continue doing lessons at their place; or as someone had suggested, tutor at Mr. Donuts or Starbucks. If the students truly feel that you are a dependable teacher, and it's the company, not the teacher, that screwed up their studies, they would surely come and teach when you something with them. Of course there is a certain degree of sacrifice, but it's better than just rotting or accepting another offer, which from my opinion is nonetheless exactly like Nova's. Unless, of course there's possibly a policy laid out by someone that they are not to teach independently if you are part of the Union.

But also, with the entire Eikaiwa dispute going on, there's the point that there are more places than Nova or any big Eikaiwa franchise that teaches. Instead of just waiting for a place to reopen, how often would a person be willing to sit by the steps and wait? There are more than one place for them to learn Eikaiwa, and it's not with the big franchises either.

Nova is a sinking ship. For those who are staying to see if they can retrieve whatever unpaid wages they have, or fully retrieve those money. They are just closing off the many escape routes that they are allowed, and in the end sink with Nova. There's the lifeboats that will save them, but there's also jumping off the ship yourself and swim to safety.

Private lessons don't get you visas.