International nursery operator buys its first UK setting

The owners have purchased Barnes Day Care, a 30-place nursery in South-West London.

This is the company’s first nursery in the UK having previously invested in an overseas nursery business.

Sophie Willcox, director of childcare and education at Christie & Co, who assisted with the sale, said, ‘Despite the pandemic, Barnes Day Care has been very resilient; growing in occupancy and profitability. I think it is a great first UK purchase for Utsaha Education, which has the benefit of a strong and experienced staff team in place. I wish them all the best for the future of the business. This is yet another example of strong demand for quality single assets in London.’

The acquisition was funded by a loan of £3m from RM Infrastructure Income Plc.

This is RMII’s fourth investment into the childcare and nursery sector to date having previously made loans totalling £15m including to Bright Stars (formerly ICP Nurseries) to support its growth strategy.

Thomas Le Grix de la Salle, portfolio manager at RM Funds, adviser to RMII, said, ‘We were delighted to support Utsaha Education with providing this bespoke acquisition finance. We are focused on providing funding to critical infrastructure assets such as the provision of high quality childcare and specialise in supporting businesses like Barnes Day Care with flexible funding solutions and we look forward to working with them again to achieve their growth objectives.’

Andrew Pitayanukul, director at Utsaha Education, said, ‘This is our first transaction with RMII and we were pleased that they were able to provide acquisition finance that met our needs and within the right timeframe. We see further opportunities to grow in a sector where there is a significant undersupply of high-quality childcare solutions.’

Expanding nursery groups 

Kindred Nurseries has also expanded with the acquisition of CHS Group's Sunflower Nurseries in Cambourne, Cambridgeshire. 

The two settings have a combined capacity of 105 childcare places.

All staff will transfer to Kindred Nurseries under TUPE regulations.

The deal takes Kindred Nurseries to 25 settings.

Ruth Pimentel, chief executive of Kindred Nurseries, said, 'This fabulous group of nurseries will bring our group to 25 settings, and we know they will be a great match for the rest of our family. It has been an absolute pleasure working with the CHS Group throughout the sale process. We are excited to start a new phase here at Kindred, with Sunflower Nurseries being a key part of that development.

Nigel Howlett, chief executive of CHS Group, said, 'Over the years, we have worked hard to develop both sites from the ground up, to now being very high performing, caring and supportive nurseries. The decision to sell the nurseries has been extremely difficult but the sale will enable CHS to better focus its efforts on its core offering of social housing and services for people in need in our community.'

Kids Planet has also bought another setting, Angels Day Nursery in Kettering, Northamptonshire (pictured below).

The deal brings the total number of sites operated by the nursery group to 132.

Former owner of Angels Day Nursery Simeon Singer said, ‘During the past seven years, I have been fortunate to be the owner and guardian of this wonderful nursery and I’ve put a huge amount of personal energy, time, and money into improving the facilities to ensure that the team provides the highest standards of care and education for the children in our care. I made the decision to sell the nursery to allow me the time to focus on my business interests outside of the childcare sector.'

Clare Roberts, chief executive of Kids Planet, said, ‘We are looking forward to supporting the nursery with their transition into our Kids Planet family. Angels Nursery prides itself on providing a ‘home from home’ environment and delivering excellent quality childcare and education, aligning with Kids Planet’s own values.’

All deals were handled by Christie & Co.