Mon, 19 Dec 2022 | BUSINESS SALE
Nursery group Kids Planet has continued its acquisitive expansion with a deal to buy the 100-place King’s Park Day Nursery in Knowsley. The deal strengthens Kids Planet’s presence in Merseyside and takes its total of UK nurseries to 143, following a spate of acquisitions in recent years.
King’s Park was established in 2007 and is a premium day nursery catering for children aged from three months to five years. The nursery has been rated “outstanding” on its last two Ofsted inspections and generates solid income and profits from annual fees. Since opening, the nursery, which is housed in a two-storey building, has undergone significant investment.
Since being founded in 2008, Kids Planet has expanded acquisitively to become one of the UK’s largest nursery operators, taking advantage of significant fragmentation and other M&A tailwinds in the UK’s nursery sector. From 2016, the firm was backed by a more than £40 million investment from private equity fund BGF, which saw the group quadruple its portfolio through acquisitions in just five years.
BGF exited its investment in Kids Planet in late 2021, selling a majority stake to investment outfit Fremman in a deal that generated a 3x MM on BGF’s original investment. Fremman pledged to accelerate Kids Planet’s UK expansion and, since then, the company has acquired further nursery groups in West Yorkshire and Merseyside.
Following Kids Planet’s acquisition of Merseyside group Waverton Day Nurseries in October 2022, Helen Wong of Setfords, who helped lead the sale process, commented that dealmaking in the UK nursery sector had risen to “unprecedented” levels following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wong added that this was expected to increase further, with owners under growing pressure to sell due to factors including “economic uncertainty, spiralling utility costs, staff shortages and the nervousness of a recession on the horizon.”
Commenting on the acquisition of King’s Park, Kids Planet CEO Clare Roberts said: "Their addition to our Kids Planet family strengthens our presence and support network within the Merseyside area and means we're now a group of 143 nurseries across the UK."
Christie & Co’s Nick Brown and Sofia Beck handled the deal, with Brown saying that King’s Park “has all the attributes buyers are looking for. Inside and out, this nursery is first-class with a strong management team in situ.”
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