Apiary supports MBO of Bertram Nursery Group

Kenny Wastell
11 March 2019

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Apiary Capital has supported the management buyout of UK nursery school operator Bertram Nursery Group in a deal that marks an exit for Rockpool Investments.

Apiary is currently investing from its £200m maiden fund, which last year invested £18m for a majority stake in travel management firm The Appointment Group. Bertram generated EBITDA before non-trading expenses of £2.4m in the year ending in February 2018, according to publicly available documents.

The group's founders, Graeme Scott and Tom Lyons, will also make an exit via the transaction.

Bertram will invest in staff training and the development of its existing facilities following the deal, in addition to pursuing an acquisitive growth strategy.

Apiary was founded in 2017 by former Bowmark Capital senior partner Mark Salter, who was subsequently joined by former Inflexion Private Equity investment director Nicki Boyd, former Bowmark chief operating officer Nikola Sutherland and Rob Simpson, previously an investment manager at Sovereign Capital and director at August Equity. In January 2019, the firm strengthened its team with four appointments, including new partner Dan Adler, formerly of Lyceum Capital.

Debt
Santander provided debt facilities to support the transaction.

Previous funding
Rockpool provided Bertram with a mezzanine loan facility in 2015.

Company
Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Musselburgh, near Edinburgh, Bertram operates 36 nursery schools across Scotland and the north-west of England. It has a headcount of around 800. The business generated a turnover of £18.8m in the year ending in February 2018, according to the aforementioned documents.

People
Apiary Capital – Jeniv Shah (investment director).
Bertram Nursery Group – Cary Rankin (managing director).

Advisers
Equity – Browne Jacobson, Gareth Davies, Kirk Glenn, Ryan Brown, Jonathan Edwards, Melanie Chisnall (legal).