| Location |  |
|---|---|
| Date of investment | Apr 1998 |
| Activity | Chain of children's day nurseries |
| Investment Size | €12.1m |
| Type/stage | MBO / Roll-out |
| Revenues | €30.0m (2004) |
| Transaction Size | €77.0m |
| Milestone Board Members | |
| Date of realisation | Jun 2004 |
The Business
Leapfrog was a rapidly developing chain of children’s day nurseries, each catering for up to 100 children, in the 0-5 age group. All the nurseries were purpose built and set standards for the industry in terms of both quality of construction and quality of care. We led the financing project work which saw £19m of equity and £27m of bank debt committed to this investment.
The Management
We backed Derek Mapp, the chairman of Leapfrog, who had previous involvement with us as chief executive of the Tom Cobleigh group.
Strategic Development
Over a 5-year period, the business became one of the leading quality operators of children’s day nurseries in the UK. With the rapid growth in the industry and the rise in new entrants, we decided that the sector was ripe for consolidation. The business was sold to the publicly-quoted group, Nord Anglia Education, in 2004.