The London Preschool Group (LPS) is a highly regarded premium group of four nurseries serving children from zero to four years of age, located in affluent areas of North and South London. Led by Anne Sheldon, LPS is known for providing a safe, stimulating and varied environment where children make good progress.
The first nursery, in Wandsworth, was opened in September 2016 with backing from Rockpool Investments with further sites completed in 2019 and 2020. Each location features state-of-the-art facilities with a capacity between 92 and 112 places at each setting.
Rockpool Investments appointed our education sector M&A team to explore a sales process to maximise value reflecting the future growth potential of the newly opened sites. We provided sell-side advice on the transaction.
The quality of LPS’ facilities, operational excellence, stimulating curriculum and demonstrable increase in FTEs, even during the Covid-19 pandemic, attracted substantial interest. We ran a competitive marketing process to a handful of known buyers with a strategic interest in prime central London locations.
In Three Little Birds, LPS has joined an ambitious, quality-led childcare group who, with backing from Blandford Capital and DMC Capital Partners, are perfectly positioned for further growth.
Our extensive sector expertise across the education space and relationships with key strategic acquirers enabled us to identify the right partner and agree a structure that achieved real value for investors.
We were able to support management throughout a detailed due diligence process delivering an efficient outcome for all parties.
We would like to thank the Grant Thornton education corporate finance team for their support in the sale of our investment in The London Preschool Group. The team ran an impressive process that drove strong competitive tension across an array of potential acquirers. The team’s knowledge of the sector, how to position the business and extensive network helped deliver an excellent result from the sale process. We were impressed throughout the sale process by the speed of execution and attention to detail of the team all the way to completion.
Guy Ellis Rockpool Investments
