Tender Loving Care

Deal Summary

Catalyst advised the shareholders of Tender Loving Care (TLC), a business owned by management and two Venture Capital Trusts managed by Aberdeen Asset Managers and Close Ventures on its sale to Busy Bees, a subsidiary of ABC Learning.

Founded in 1989 and based in Rugby, TLC is a provider of childcare facilities with 9 nurseries across the country. The business is a market leader focused on providing facilities for public sector workers, with the majority of the facilities on hospital or school sites, operating under long term contracts.

What difference did we make?

The business had been approached by a trade buyer directly. However the shareholders were nervous about the deliverability of the deal and given our knowledge of the sector Catalyst was appointed to test the market thoroughly and benchmark value.

During the course of our work, the original buyer withdrew their offer as we had initially surmised. Shareholders though were now convinced that an outright sale was in their best interests and subsequently instructed us to run a full process on their behalf. This led to an extremely protracted process that lasted over eighteen months, and our perseverance was the key to making the deal happen.