Sale of nursery group to France's leading chain

RNS Number : 3990U

Christie Group PLC

18 January 2017

 

18 January 2017

Christie Group plc
("Christie Group" or the "Company")

Christie & Co facilitates sale of children's day nursery group to France's leading chain

Christie Group plc (CTG.L), the leading provider of Professional Business Services and Stock & Inventory Systems & Services to the leisure, retail and care markets, is pleased to announce that Christie & Co, its specialist provider of agency and advisory services, has successfully brokered the sale of Magic Nurseries to Les Petits Chaperons Rouges ('LPCR'), France's leading private nursery chain.

Magic Nurseries were founded by Tom Reed in 2002 and the portfolio has steadily grown via strategic acquisitions of single sites and small regional groups into a portfolio of 16 children's day nurseries  located across Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire.  LPCR was created in 2000 as the first provider of employer-sponsored childcare in France, and has since grown into one of the leading premium private nursery Groups in Europe, serving c.12,500 children per day at more that 300 nurseries in France and Germany. LPCR's acquisition of The Magic Nurseries Portfolio represents their first UK platform investment.

Courteney Donaldson, Head of Childcare & Education at Christie & Co, which has offices across the UK and mainland Europe, including France, commented, "We have worked with Magic Nurseries for over a decade, assisting the founders in the expansion of their portfolio. Having completed numerous high profile transactions during 2016, Tom Reed approached Christie & Co seeking confidential advice on the Companies' exit strategy."

Nick Brown, Associate Director Christie & Co, commented "Our specialist Childcare team were swiftly appointed to run a highly confidential sales process which drew interest from a variety of UK corporate operators, private equity houses, high net worth individuals,  and several overseas entrants, including multiple parties based in China, seeking to acquire a high calibre and market leading UK platform. Following an eight week confidential sale process, multiple offers were received from a variety of eager potential purchasers, which culminated in Tom Reed and his fellow shareholders selecting LPCR as their preferred purchaser because of their shared cultural values  and commitment to delivering exceptional services to families and children in their care."

Tom Reed, Magic Nurseries Founder and Director who will be staying with the company said, "When the time came for us to consider the sale of our business, Courteney Donaldson at Christie & Co was our first and only port of call."

Enquiries:

Christie Group plc

Courteney Donaldson	0161 833 6924
Head of Childcare & Education, Christie & Co
David Rugg	020 7227 0707
Chief Executive
Dan Prickett	020 7227 0700
Chief Financial Officer

Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited:

Dominic Morley / Charles Leigh-Pemberton                                                                   020 7886 2906

Nominated Adviser & Broker

Notes to Editors:

Christie Group plc, quoted on AIM, is a leading professional business services group with 46 offices across the UK, Europe and Canada, catering to its specialist markets in the leisure, retail and care sectors.

Christie Group operates in two complementary business divisions: Professional Business Services (PBS) and Stock & Inventory Systems & Services (SISS). These divisions trade under the brand names: PBS - Christie & Co, Pinders, Christie Finance and Christie Insurance: SISS - Orridge, Venners and Vennersys.

Tracing its origins back to 1846, the Group has a long established reputation for offering essential services to client companies in agency, valuation services, investment, consultancy, project management, multi-functional trading systems and online ticketing services, stock audit and inventory management. The diversity of these services provides a natural balance to the Group's core agency business.

For more information, please go to www.christiegroup.com.

 

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