Sale of Yellow Dot Nurseries Gp to Bright Horizons

9 April 2018

Christie Group plc
("Christie Group" or the "Company")

Christie & Co brokers the sale of Yellow Dot nurseries group to Bright Horizons

Christie Group plc (CTG.L), the leading provider of Professional Business Services and Stock & Inventory Systems and Services to the leisure, retail and care markets, is pleased to announce that Christie & Co, its specialist provider of agency and advisory services, has successfully brokered the sale of Yellow Dot Holdings Limited and Subsidiary Companies, an exceptional portfolio of 12 day nurseries located in affluent residential areas across central Hampshire with a combined operating capacity for 794 children.

Founded by Managing Director, Jane Dyke in 1997, Yellow Dot maintains an excellent reputation and benefits from a locally renowned and very highly regarded brand. The business comprises impressive childcare settings including purpose built nurseries and converted residences, former public houses and commercial properties.

Yellow Dot has been acquired by leading childcare provider, Bright Horizons Family Solutions, whose offer was accepted as a result of the companies' shared visions and cultures of promoting exceptional and high quality childcare.

The addition of Yellow Dot brings Bright Horizons' total number of nurseries in the UK to more than 320 and more than 1,000 worldwide.
 

Acting on behalf of Jane and Trevor Dyke, Courteney Donaldson, Managing Director - Childcare & Education and Nick Brown, Head of Brokerage - Childcare at Christie & Co handled the sale of Yellow Dot, ensuring a confidential and efficient sales process from instruction through to completion.

Courteney Donaldson comments, "Last autumn, Jane and I discussed the buoyancy of the UK and the scope to achieve a premium price in the event of a professionally executed sale process through Christie & Co. Following weeks of preparation, the opportunity to acquire Yellow Dot nurseries was introduced to a carefully selected pool of potential buyers in early December who were invited into the confidential sales process. In early February we received multiple offers, over the asking price, from a wide variety of trade operators and investors alike, with deliverable offers being presented by both UK based and overseas parties.  Due to the amount of pre-transaction works which were undertaken prior to the commencement of the sale, the period from the deal being agreed through completion took a mere seven weeks."

Nick Brown comments, "It has been a pleasure working with Jane and her advisors on her exceptional group of childcare settings. Whilst we anticipated the interest would be strong on this project we have all been delighted at the worldwide interest that this sale has generated. Access to the most active well financed existing operators and to emerging new entrants to the market has helped make this a market setting deal which has been completed in a highly confidential manner.

"We are delighted to have facilitated the sale of this exceptional and market leading portfolio and we wish Jane, Trevor and Bright Horizons all the best."

Enquiries:

Christie Group plc

Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited:

Dominic Morley / Charles Leigh-Pemberton                                                                        020 7886 2906

Nominated Adviser & Broker

Notes to Editors:

Christie Group plc, quoted on AIM, is a leading professional business services group with 42 offices across the UK, Europe and Canada, catering to its specialist markets in the leisure, retail and care sectors.

Christie Group operates in two complementary business divisions: Professional Business Services (PBS) and Stock & Inventory Systems & Services (SISS). These divisions trade under the brand names: PBS - Christie & Co, Pinders, Christie Finance and Christie Insurance: SISS - Orridge, Venners and Vennersys.

Tracing its origins back to 1846, the Group has a long established reputation for offering essential services to client companies in agency, valuation services, investment, consultancy, project management, multi-functional trading systems and online ticketing services, stock audit and inventory management. The diversity of these services provides a natural balance to the Group's core agency business.

For more information, please go to www.christiegroup.com.