Quadrant buys Australia's Affinity Education from Anchorage

The deal was first reported by the Australian Financial Review. Affinity CEO Tim Hickey – who will be remaining with the business – also spoke to local education portal The Sector about the deal, noting, “We have come a long way, and yet there is so much more to do.”

Anchorage took Affinity private in 2015 at a valuation of A$208 million, having sweetened its offer to win the support of G8 Education, the largest individual shareholder in the company and another prospective acquirer. At the time, Affinity was Australia’s second-largest listed childcare business with 161 centers nationwide and a daily licensed capacity of 12,682 children.

Anchorage made the investment from its second fund, which closed at A$250 million in 2013.

One of Australia's largest providers of early education and childcare, Affinity now operates more than 150 centers under the Papillio, Kids Academy, Aussie Kindies, Milestones, and Bambini brands. It caters to children at the kindergarten level as well as preschool and outside school hours care (OSHC).

Quadrant already has exposure to the OSHC space, having acquired a majority stake in Junior Adventures Group (JAG) from Advent Partners in 2018. A year earlier, JAG sought to merge with Bain Capital-owned Camp Australia, but the deal was withdrawn when the competition regulator expressed concerns.

Quadrant closed its latest flagship buyout fund at A$1.24 billion late last year. Other recent activity includes an investment in TSA Management, a local project consultancy business. Once again, there was a private equity seller, in this instance Livingbridge.

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• Topics
• Australasia
• Buyouts
• Trade sale
• Australia
• Anchorage Capital Partners
• Quadrant Private Equity
• Education