Unigestion sells Kindred to Livingbridge and makes a new investment to support the nursery group’s next chapter of growth
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Unigestion, the global boutique asset manager focusing on investing in private equity’s emerging champions, has sold its successful investment in nurseries group Kindred to Livingbridge, a leading UK-focused mid-market private equity firm. It has also made a new investment in the company, investing alongside Livingbridge to support Kindred’s next stage of growth.
Kindred is one of the UK’s most distinguished providers of early years education for children aged 0-5, providing exceptional, professional childcare and early years education across Southern England and the Midlands.
Unigestion invested in Kindred in 2017 through its Direct Opportunities Fund, supporting the company’s strategy with a targeted programme of investment that has helped steer the company from 4 nurseries to 48 locations today. A key factor in Kindred’s growing success has been Unigestion’s work to establish a seasoned, experienced management team at the Company, led by CEO Ruth Pimentel.
Unigestion has supported this team to establish robust processes that ensure the sites acquired by Kindred are of exceptional quality and can be seamlessly integrated leveraging the group’s finance, marketing and HR functions. The team instilled a focus on quality and a ‘cluster-based model’ that ensures each child receives high quality childcare across all locations.
Given the continued positive outlook for Kindred, Unigestion will continue to support the Company alongside Livingbridge with a new investment via the Unigestion Direct III fund. Kindred will be the 11th investment in the Fund, which provides global exposure to the market leaders of tomorrow, investing in companies whose growth is underpinned by long-term trends.
Pieter-Jan Frederix, Partner at Unigestion, said: “We have enjoyed the journey we have been on with Ruth and the team at Kindred and are proud of the high-quality nursery group we built together. Backing proven leaders in resilient markets alongside like-minded partners is core to our strategy. We are therefore delighted to make a new investment in the next stage of Kindred’s evolution alongside Livingbridge.”
Ruth Pimentel, CEO of Kindred, added: “Unigestion’s support has been pivotal to our growth strategy. We are grateful to the team for its support over the past years and look forward to continuing this successful relationship alongside Livingbridge.”
“We are excited to partner with Kindred as it embarks on the next phase of its growth journey,” said Joe McGee, Investment Director at Livingbridge. “The team’s dedication to delivering high-quality childcare aligns perfectly with our values and our extensive experience in the education sector.”
For further information please email us at: corporatecommunicationteam@unigestion.com
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