As many of those involved in the early years space are aware, there has been recent national press coverage regarding the level of private equity (PE) investment in the UK nursery sector.
The main concern appears to be that it leaves the sector open to the increased risk of collapse.
The justification for this thesis comes from the example of historic PE investment in adult social care, which led to the collapse of Southern Cross and Four Seasons amid increased debt.
This comparison ignores some crucial differences.
First of all, the structure of PE involvement and signoff has evolved. For adult social care, PE firms saw an opportunity to sell the fixed assets (i.e., the care homes), withdraw the equity, and then load companies with assets with significant levels of debt.
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