(Yicai Global) July 18 -- A unit of New Oriental Education and Technology Group, China's largest provider of private educational services, has submitted a filing to carry out an initial public offering in Hong Kong.

Koolearn Technology Holding, an online education provider that delisted from China's Nasdaq-like New Third Board six months ago, has submitted an application to float in the special administrative region.

With only 62 full-time teaching staff and the support of thousands of part-time teachers, the Beijing-based company achieved CNY446 million (USD67 million) in revenue and CNY92.2 million in net profit in the last fiscal year, with gross margins as high as 67.4 percent and 68 percent in 2016 and 2017, respectively.

Founded in 2005, Koolearn is the largest online education service provider in the college test preparation market in China with a market share of 8.2 percent last year in terms of earnings.

According to the prospectus, Koolearn provides professional online education services for preschool children, primary and middle school students, college students and professionals based on business-to-consumer and business-to-business models. It gives online courses and products through different platforms including its official website, Alibaba's Tmall, and JD.Com.

New Oriental directly holds a 66.72 percent stake in Koolearn. Image Frame, a subsidiary of internet giant Tencent Holdings, holds 12.06 percent of its shares as second-largest shareholder.

Editor: William Clegg