BDC acquires Inspiring Learning from APriori and Ares

The deal valuation has not been disclosed, though according to media reports earlier this year the vendors were looking to sell the company for around £100m.

Under its new owners, the company will look to expand its range of activities across its residential educational brand Kingswood, as well as investing in new sites.

During the tenure of APriori and Ares, Inspiring Learning opened three new sites – in north Wales, Kent and south Yorkshire – and launched its Kingswood Adventure Lodges camping facilities.

The deal marks Bridgepoint's third investment in the education space. In May 2007, it acquired the educational division of publishing company Wolters Kluwer, which has since been rebranded as Infinitas, for €774m. Six years later, in December 2013, it acquired Cambridge Education Group from Palamon Capital Partners for £185m.

Debt
Barings and Crescent Capital provided a unitranche debt package to support the deal, while RBS provided ancillary working capital facilities.

Previous funding
Bowmark Capital first invested in Inspiring Learning (then known as School Travel Group) in 2004. The GP supported a buy-and-build growth strategy for the company, bolting on Equity Travel in 2005, Pavilion Tours in 2006 and Kuoni Student Travel in 2007.

APriori (then known as DLJ Merchant Banking Partners) acquired Inspiring Learning (by then rebranded as Education and Adventure Travel), from Bowmark for £100m in July 2008. The deal marked a 3.7x return for the vendor.

Company
Founded in 1933 under the School Travel Group brand, Brighton-headquartered Inspiring Learning is a provider of educational and activity-related courses to schools and universities. The business operates under three brands; Kingswood, which operates 10 residential sites across the UK and France; Camp Beaumont, which operates non-residential day camps; and Equity, which provides school-curriculum-linked educational and sports tours, as well as ski trips.

People
Bridgepoint Development Capital – Robin Lawson (director).
Inspiring Learning – John Bentley (CEO); Jason Andrews (chief operating officer).

Advisers
Equity – Deloitte (corporate finance, financial due diligence, commercial due diligence, tax, debt advisory); ERM (environmental due diligence); Marsh (insurance due diligence); Travers Smith, Paul Dolman, George Weavil, Jessica Kolhorn, Will Yates, Ed Pike, Simon Skinner, Silvana Van der Velde, Laura Jackson, Matt Ayre, Fiona Swords (legal).
Vendor – DC Advisory (corporate finance); DLA Piper (legal); Deloitte (financial due diligence, tax); Parthenon (commercial due diligence); White Hart Associates (legal).
Management – Cornerstone (corporate finance); PwC (tax); Macfarlanes (legal).

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• Topics
• Buyouts
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• UK / Ireland
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• Bridgepoint