Nursery World - European bank buys biggest UK nursery group

Asquith Court Schools, the UK's biggest private nursery group, has been bought by the European arm of an international investment bank for 66m. West Private Equity, a branch of German-based WestLB, has bought Asquith Court from a group of several shareholders, including private investment firms Apax Partners, Electra, Candover and Talisman Management International.

West Private Equity, a branch of German-based WestLB, has bought Asquith Court from a group of several shareholders, including private investment firms Apax Partners, Electra, Candover and Talisman Management International.

West Private Equity has also earmarked 'significant' capital to speed up the development of the group, which currently operates 76 private nurseries and nine independent day schools, mostly in London and the south-east.

Asquith Court's management team is unchanged. Peter Aughterson remains chief executive, alongside Jean Cross as operations director and Ron Ring as finance director.

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