Yorkshire Bank backs £28m buy-out of children’s care specialist

Advanced Childcare Ltd (ACL), a leading provider of outsourced children’s care and education services, has been acquired by private equity house GI Partners in a £28m deal backed by Yorkshire Bank Corporate & Structured Finance.

GI has acquired the business from Bowmark Capital, which backed a management buy-out of the company in 2005. Based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, ACL employs over 350 people and has a market-leading record of excellence with 25 separate awards for ‘Outstanding Provider’ from Ofsted. ACL operates 30 residential care homes and a fostering service and has been awarded six regional contracts from local authorities in Manchester, Oldham, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Bradford and Blackpool.

ACL is the latest addition to GI’s growing portfolio of specialist care and education companies. GI intends to use it as a platform to create a multi-regional, industry-leading childcare services business. GI also owns The Cambian Group, which it has built up to be the UK’s largest provider of specialist services in education, mental health rehabilitation and learning disabilities.

Alfred Foglio, Managing Director of GI Partners, said: “Advanced Childcare has pioneered the trend of managing children’s care services on behalf of budget constrained local authorities with residential childcare being one of the few services that the government acknowledges is less expensive if provided by the private sector. GI Partners believes that ACL offers an excellent opportunity from which to build a multi-regional childcare services platform due it its combination of best-in class management team, operational excellence and achievement of the highest quality ratings in the industry."

Riz Khan, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Advanced Childcare said, “We have been working closely with GI Partners on this acquisition for a number of months and are delighted to be able to partner with them as we embark on our next phase of growth."

Yorkshire Bank Corporate & Structured Finance were led by Manchester-based directors Roddy Kilpatrick and Guy Taylor, with support from associate director Jon Hall. Guy Taylor said: “Advanced Childcare is a genuine market leader in its field, one which has pioneered high quality standards and ethical pricing. The prudent funding package will allow GI Partners to take control of the business and provide the investment required to enable the management team to replicate their success in other regions."