Nursery World - Bright Horizons acquires Australian nursery group

Bright Horizons has expanded into Australia with the acquisition of a nursery group of 75 sites.

Bright Horizons has bought nursery group Only About Children (OAC) PHOTO: OAC

Bright Horizons has bought Only About Children (OAC), which operates settings across New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.

The settings are the international nursery group’s first in Australia.

With the deal, which reportedly cost $450m Australian Dollars, Bright Horizons now operates nearly 1,100 childcare settings across five countries – the United States, the UK, the Netherlands, India and Australia.

Founded in 2002, OAC has achieved consistently high ratings from ACECQA – Australia’s childcare regulator. The nursery group was bought by private equity firm Bain Capital in 2016.

Chief executive of Bright Horizons Stephen Kramer said, ‘We are excited to welcome Only About Children to the Bright Horizons family. We have long been interested in Australia as an attractive market for high-quality child care, with strong demand from working parents, an established funding support system, and a long runway for growth and expansion.’

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