Yuce Private Education and Cultural Services Inc. (‘Yuce’ or the company) is a leading provider of high school education and vocational services located in Ankara, Turkey. Yuce is currently undertaking an $8.6 million investment program which will enable Yuce to achieve the following components: - expand its present enrollment capacity by 40% to 2,100 students through the ownership of the land and the building of 20 additional classrooms; - build a library, a professional development center for teachers’ training and implement an alumni club; - modernize existing classes through technological improvements; - consolidate its quality curriculum through the completion of its accreditation process with International Education Authorities; - upgrade its services in the area of educational software and systems development; and - refinance a small portion of YUCE’s short-term debt contracted from the construction of the new campus. Project rationale: The project would allow YUCE to build on its continuous growth in private education and equip a leading Turkish school with modern facilities and improve the quality of its curriculum. Improving school development, the quality of teaching and introducing education technologies into schools are key components of the system of education reforms allowing Turkey’s accession to the EU. The project will also allow a leader in educational software development to further increase its business volume as a provider of education management systems in a growing market. Finally, the project would assist the sponsor in reducing expensive short-term debt and hence high financial charges, with long-term funding that is more adequate for capital investments. YUCE was established in 1983 in the Kizilay district, downtown Ankara, initially as a private preparatory school, providing students enhanced skills to allow them to pass the national university entrance exam. The passing results of its students was so exceptional that YUCE soon acquired a very good reputation and established in 1988 the first private Scientific High School in Turkey, with a major focus on basic sciences such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology. Today, YUCE has a K-12 operation with over 1,500 students, the YUCE IT Academy which opened in November 2000 and offers long-term IT career courses and YUCE Information Systems for software development and certified professional computer programs.