A provider of supply teachers to schools has undergone a management buy-out (MBO) for £45 million backed by Graphite Capital.

A provider of supply teachers to schools has undergone a management buy-out (MBO) for £45 million backed by Graphite Capital.

Teaching Personnel’s MBO is led by managing director John Bowman, who along with the rest of the management team is reinvesting a ‘substantial proportion’ of his proceeds from the deal back into the business. Graphite Capital has secured a majority stake through the transaction.

Hinting at the possibility of further acquisitions for the company, Bowman says the teaching recruitment sector is ‘ripe for consolidation’. Teaching Personnel already has 32 branches, providing teachers, teaching assistants and nursery staff to 4,000 of the 30,000 schools in England and Wales.

The transaction was managed for Graphite by senior partners Mike Tilbury and Simon ffitch, partner Mark Hudson and investment director Mark Hall.

Says Tilbury, ‘We believe [Teaching Personnel] has excellent potential for growth both organically, through the roll-out of new branches and services, and via strategic acquisitions.’

Acquisition finance and working capital facilities for Teaching Personnel are being provided by Clydesdale Bank Corporate & Structured Finance.