Graphite Capital, a UK mid-market private equity firm, is backing the GBP45m management buyout of Teaching Personnel, the UK’s third largest provider of supply teachers and support staff to schools, from private equity managers RJD Partners.
Graphite and the Teaching Personnel management team plan to develop the business through a combination of organic growth, strategic acquisitions and a broadening of its service offering.
Clydesdale Bank Corporate & Structured Finance is providing acquisition finance and working capital facilities.
Graphite has acquired a significant majority stake and the management team is re-investing a substantial proportion of its proceeds in the business.
Teaching Personnel’s turnover increased at a compound annual growth rate of 13 per cent between 2006 and 2009.
Through its network of 32 branches, Teaching Personnel supplies teachers, teaching assistants and nursery nurses, both short and long term, to some 4,000 of the 30,000 primary and secondary schools in England and Wales, including those providing for special educational needs.
Graphite has experience of investing in the recruitment sector, having backed companies such as Alexander Mann Solutions, a provider of recruitment process outsourcing solutions; NES, which operates in the oil and gas industry; and general recruitment firms PSD (now named OPD Group) and Huntress.
John Bowman, managing director of Teaching Personnel, says: “We were impressed by Graphite’s track record in the sector and their operating style. We look forward to working with them on our ambitious growth plans in a market ripe for consolidation.”
Graphite senior partner Mike Tilbury says: “Teaching Personnel is a first class business, with a strong management team and an impressive trading performance. It provides a critical service. We believe it has excellent potential for growth both organically, through the roll-out of new branches and services, and via strategic acquisitions.”
