National Education to Acquire Israeli Firm

National Education Corp. said Monday it has agreed to acquire Edunetics Ltd., an Israeli company that develops and markets software systems for teaching science and mathematics.

Irvine-based National Education said it will pay $12 million cash, or about $2 per share of Edunetics stock. Edunetics will operate as part of Steck-Vaughn Publishing Corp., a publisher of supplemental education materials that is 83% owned by National Education. The transaction must be approved by the boards of National Education, Steck-Vaughn, Edunetics and Israel Corp., which holds a 51.4% interest in Edunetics. Shareholders of Edunetics also must approve the acquisition.