Babington Group, established in 1974, is a leading, national provider of end-to-end professional skills and employability services. The Group delivers the highest quality Apprenticeships and Traineeships, and is currently working with over 1,000 employers and 4,400 learners across a range of courses and is notably a market leader in Accountancy and Financial Services.
Following a MBI with Bridges Ventures in 2009, the Group has impressively grown organically and via strategic acquisitions to deliver high learner success rates and achievement of a 'Good' Ofsted rating with 'Outstanding Features'.
The acquisition represents a secondary private equity buy-out by RJD Partners who will take the business through its next stage of growth. RJD Partners are a mid-market private equity fund and Babington is the second investment of RJD's third equity fund.
As part of the transaction, we provided lead advisory services as well as vendor due diligence and SPA advisory services for the transaction.
We built a strong relationship with Bridges Ventures and the management team throughout the transaction which led to significant interest in the business and considerable value realisation for the shareholders.
We ran a streamlined process which ultimately culminated in a highly competitive process resulting in an excellent result for the shareholders, including a fantastic return for Bridges Ventures, and an exciting growth platform for management, who will be staying with the business to continue their ambitious growth and expansion plans.
Keely Woodley, Head of Corporate Finance commented: "We are privileged to have worked with Bridges and such a fantastic management team and are delighted that whilst achieving an excellent return for Bridges we have secured a bright future for the management team, at a particularly exciting time in the industry. The role that apprentices play in developing workforces has never been more important. Babington's focus on apprenticeships and training is key to the government's social agenda and helps create communities in which people and businesses can flourish contributing towards a vibrant economy."
We are so grateful for the great result that Grant Thornton delivered, especially the number of offers we received for the business on the back of driving a competitive process during such an exciting time in the industry. I was particularly impressed by the commitment, tenacity and aptitude from the team throughout the transaction, which produced a fantastic result for all shareholders. I would like to thank the team for the endless support they gave us and we are really grateful for everything they did to find us a great partner for the business going forward and I would not hesitate to recommend them.
Carole Carson Chief Executive, Babington Group
