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Affinity confirms acquisition of eighteen Kids Club centres in one of largest deals to date
Jason Roberts
Mar 28, 2023
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Affinity Education Group has confirmed the acquisition of eighteen Kids Club Early Childhood Learning (Kids Club ECL) centres located across Victoria, New South Wales, Canberra and Queensland in one of the largest single group transactions in its history.
“We’re absolutely thrilled to welcome the incredible Kids Club ECL teams to Affinity, and so impressed by the hard work of previous owners Corie and Sally Stone in getting their business to where they have,” CEO Tim Hickey said.“Our community is focused on warmly welcoming each and every new educator and teacher to Affinity, so they can take advantage of new opportunities and career progression.”
The acquisition marks the most recent example of Affinity’s current growth phase that commenced soon after the acquisition of the Group by Quadrant Private Equity in June 2021 at which point it had around 150 centres.
The Kids Club ECL acquisition has added more than 1,700 licensed places and 600 employees and takes the overall network centre count to around 230 nationwide.
“Our growth offers us exciting opportunities to build the careers of our employees, and to connect with more Australian families seeking high quality early education and care in their children’s first five years,” Mr Hickey said before adding that the group would continue its expansion strategy going forward.
Kids Club ECL founder Corie Stone, who with wife Sally built the portfolio of centres over more than twenty years, said they were impressed by Affinity’s rigorous attention to quality, safety, early education, and commitment to their people.
“It has been a difficult decision to sell, but we feel confident that we are handing our team over to the right company,” he said.
“Affinity’s core values align very well with ours, and in the lead up to the transition they provided evidence of the genuine opportunities they will offer children and employees. We are sure they’ll be warmly welcomed and thrive with Affinity.”
Kids Club ECL will retain and continue to operate the balance of its portfolio, around fourteen centres.
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