Graphite Capital has acquired the recruitment company Teaching Personnel in a deal that values the company at £45 million.

Clydesdale Bank Corporate & Structured Finance is providing finance and working capital facilities for the deal.

The acquisition of Teaching Personnel is from private equity firm RJD Partners, which backed the £24 million management buy-out of the company in 2007. The deal will give RJD a return of approximately three times its original investment.

Founded in 1996, Teaching Personnel supplies teachers and teaching assistants to around 4,000 primary and secondary schools. The company has 32 branches across England and Wales.

The deal will see Graphite acquire a significant majority stake in the company, and the management team are to re-invest a substantial but undisclosed proportion of their proceeds in the business.

Mike Tilbury, senior partner at Graphite, comments: ‘We believe [Teaching Personnel] has excellent potential for growth both organically, through the roll-out of new branches and services, and via strategic acquisitions.’

Mike Tilbury, Mark Hall, Simon ffitch and Mark Hudson managed the transaction for Graphite.

Graphite Capital provides private equity to mid-market companies in the UK, focusing on management buy-outs and buy-ins, expansion capital, replacement capital and turnarounds. Teaching Personnel is the sixth investment made from the £585 million Graphite Capital Partners VII fund, raised in 2007.