Just weeks after its chief executive moved to Hong Kong, Laureate Education has announced its first major foray into Asia. The company has made an offer to acquire 51 percent of the major shareholder in a company that owns the Malaysia-based university INTI International University College, for $36-million.

Based in Baltimore, Laureate operates a network of universities around the world (including one campus in Shanghai) as well as the all-online Walden University. Laureate, which was once publicly traded, was acquired by private-equity investors in August.

INTI International, which specializes in programs in hospitality, multimedia design, and mobile telecommunications, has eight colleges in Malaysia, as well as operations in China, Indonesia, and Thailand. The university is owned by a company called INTI Universal Holdings Bhd. The company that Laureate is seeking to buy, INTI Supreme Holdings Sdn Bhd, said it would negotiate exclusively with Laureate for three months.

According to Thomson Financial News, Laureate said that if it completed the deal, it would then move to acquire the rest of INTI Universal Holdings that is not already owned by INTI Supreme. —Goldie Blumenstyk