Oxford, UK — Asia market access specialist Intralink has secured an agreement for Northern Ireland-based software company textHELP with the China Education Alliance (CEA). The agreement was signed in Shanghai in the presence of Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.
Under the agreement, textHELP will provide a specially-adapted version of its English Hero software that assists English language learning through an easy-to-use toolbar containing support tools for students. CEA, which markets educational products through distance learning to 150 million students in China, will use the software to provide critical support to its English language students.
First Minister Peter Robinson said, “This is an extremely significant development for one of our leading software businesses and it underlines Northern Ireland’s standing as a centre of excellence for software development.”
Mark McCusker, CEO of TextHELP, said, “We are delighted to be in partnership with CEA. This deal will spearhead our entry into the world’s fastest-growing English language education market and will provide CEA with the products it needs to gain a leadership position.” He added, “I would like to thank Intralink for securing what is a very significant deal for us. After over 18 months of trying on our own, they sourced, negotiated and completed this deal in less than 6 months.”
Mr Xiqun Yu, CEO of China Education Alliance, Inc. said, “textHELP’s commitment to CEA and to the China market, as demonstrated by the support of Intralink and their bilingual team, was a key factor for us to enter this agreement.” Julian Kingsbury, Intralink Managing Director Greater China added, “English Hero is a powerful tool that will help millions of Chinese people improve their language skills and we are delighted to have been able to support textHELP’s expansion into this key market”.
About textHELP textHELP, based in Antrim, with offices in the USA, provides literacy and language learning software solutions to help support and improve the lives of people who have difficulty reading and writing and those for whom English is not their first language.
About CEA China Education Alliance is a leading educational service company offering high-quality online education materials and on-site training and tutoring to families, provincial education officials, administrators, schools and teachers in China.
About Intralink Intralink provides low risk, cost effective and accelerated market access to China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. The company's core service – the Surrogate Sales Program™ – provides a facility for companies to generate revenues to the point where there is an economic and practical case for investing in a local company or committing to a strategic partnership. Intralink, which was established in 1990, has its head office in the UK, project offices in Shanghai, Tokyo, Seoul and Taipei, and sales offices in the United States and Europe.
Intralink Contact Alex Gover alex.gover@intralink-uk.com +44 20 8960 3817 www.intralink.biz