London Asia, which made a depressed £148,000 pre-tax in the first half year, plans to float China Education Group (CEG) through a loan note convertible into shares at 33p. CEG made a net £2.3 million in the year to June and has a 25-year contract to administer the burgeoning Shandong International Institute of Translation in China’s Shandong province, who’s provision of vocational degrees is seen as local people’s only route to decent jobs.

London Asia, which will receive a commission for the float, has six per cent of fellow AIM counter, Europasia Education (a company that already owns 12 per cent of CEG). Run by chief executive Simon Littlewood, London Asia recently floated gambling concern Betex on OFEX and has introduced Chinese entrepreneur Eric Chiu’s well-connected Chinese oil and local government-focused software group Eastsea to OFEX after a £600,000 placing, valuing it £8 million.

Littlewood plans to involve London Asia in China’s incipiently fast-growing environmental sector. He has forged links with influential Chinese investment banks as well as US and UK financial groups, with a view to establishing London Asia as the company that finds deals and does local due diligence on them, while these larger houses handle the financing.

That, he argues, should largely eliminate London Asia’s perceived need to keep returning to the market for capital to fund dealings as principal.