Phoenix Equity Partners has reached agreement to sell Bolton based Acorn Care and Education to Teachers’ Private Capital, the private investment department of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed but press reports suggest the deal to be worth around £155m ($251m) with Phoenix making a four times return. For the year ended 31 August 2008 Acorn reported an EBITDA of £9.7m on Revenue of £51.8m.

Phoenix invested in Acorn in March 2005, alongside former Nord Anglia Education chairman, Kevin McNeany. The company operates 10 SEN schools and Fostering Solutions, an independent fostering agency which recruits, trains and supports foster carers, to whom local authorities refer and place children. Acorn’s schools provide care and education for more than 550 pupils and Fostering Solutions manages more than 950 foster placements from its 14 offices around the UK. During the past five years Acorn’s business has grown through 13 acquisitions.

The Ontario Teachers Pension Fund outbid Hg Capital during the auction process that was conducted by Rothschild. The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, which has more than C$87bn in net assets, invests and administers the pensions of 284,000 active and retired teachers in Ontario.

Another private equity backed business in this sector is the Cambian Group which operates seven SEN schools for children with autism. The company is backed by GI Partners, the trans-Atlantic private equity firm that has a strategy of buying and building specialist healthcare businesses. Cambian’s healthcare business specialises in mental health and complex care services.

www.acorncare.co.uk
www.phoenix-equity.com
www.cambiangroup.com
www.gipartners.com