Private equity player LDC sees exit in childcare sector as nursery care provider kidsunlimited is acquired.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions, a global provider of employer-sponsored childcare and early education, has acquired kidsunlimited, one of the UK’s largest providers of nursery care, for a cash consideration of £45 million.

The acquisition provides an exit for kidsunlimited’s private equity investor, LDC, which backed a secondary buyout of the business in 2008.

Bright Horizons, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, is a provider of childcare, early education and other services designed to help employers and families better address the challenges of work and life.

It delivers centre-based full service childcare, back-up dependent care and educational advisory services to more than 850 clients across the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands, Canada and India, including more than 130 FORTUNE 500 companies.

Founded in 1983, kidsunlimited operates 64 nurseries, including lease/consortium locations as well as workplace nurseries for blue-chip employers such as Cambridge University Hospitals, WH Smith, and The University of Oxford. 

The acquisition brings the total number of Bright Horizons-owned centres in the UK to 203, with the capacity to serve approximately 15,500 children.

Kidsunlimited CEO Ros Marshall says, ‘Joining forces with Bright Horizons creates an excellent opportunity for the business and our people, as well as our parents and their children.’

David Lissy, CEO of Bright Horizons adds, ‘We have long admired the kidsunlimited team and are excited to welcome the children and families they serve as well as their nursery staff and clients into the Bright Horizons family. 

‘Both organisations share a deep commitment to quality early years education and workplace child care, giving us the seamless ability to join forces and making this a natural step for our growth in the region.’