News
LDC backs management buyout of Tes Global’s Supply Agencies
23 Dec 2020
Mid-market private equity investor LDC has backed the management buyout of Tes Global’s Supply Agencies from Tes Global.
Tes Global’s Supply Agencies are a group of businesses that recruit and supply teachers and support staff for primary, secondary and special educational needs and disability (SEND) schools and other learning institutions. The transaction will support the independent group as it looks to expand its UK network and broaden its offering with a continued focus on excellent customer service.
Established in 2008, Tes Global’s Supply Agencies are collectively the second largest supplier and recruiter of teaching staff in the UK with a strong network of offices that covers the Midlands, the North of England and London. The group has over 100 consultants across the UK and works with over 2,600 schools each year. All of its brands are accredited with the Recruitment and Employment Confederation’s (REC) gold standard in education recruitment, which covers compliance and the REC’s Code of Professional Practice.
LDC’s investment will back the existing management team, led by CEO Liam Roberts to further grow the business. LDC will also support potential acquisition opportunities to build scale. Tes Global will continue to work closely with the Supply Agencies group.
The deal will enable Tes Global to deepen its strategic focus on the provision of online and software-enabled products and services to schools and teachers. All of Tes Global’s innovative, trusted education solutions are built with teachers’ and schools’ needs at their core. Sitting under three pillars: Staff Management, Safeguarding & Compliance, and Pupil Management, these solutions play a critical role in helping teachers and school leaders provide high quality education to millions of children across the globe. Tes Global is well equipped to pursue its vision of powering schools and enabling great teaching worldwide, by creating intelligent online products and services to make the greatest difference in education. Tes Global is backed by Providence Equity Partners, a premier private equity firm that specializes in the media, communications, education, software and services industries.
The transaction was led by LDC’s David Bains and John Green, who join the board of Tes Global’s Supply Agencies as Non-Executive Directors, with the support of Josh Wachman. As part of the transaction Bill Colvin, Non-Executive Chairman, and Elaine Simpson, Non-Executive Director, will also join the board of Tes Global’s Supply Agencies.
Commenting on the investment, Liam Roberts, CEO of Tes Global’s Supply Agencies, said: “We’ve carefully built an organisation that puts education at the heart of our offering and doesn’t compromise on ethics or the service we provide.”
LDC really understands the importance of those values to our model and the investment provides a platform to further expand our network to meet the ever-challenging needs of teachers and schools across the country.”
David Bains, Investment Director at LDC in the Midlands, said: “We are backing a senior management team comprising former teachers and professionals with considerable industry experience. Their passion for the business and unwavering ‘education first’ approach really stood out for us as we’ve built a strong relationship with them over the past two years. We are looking forward to supporting the team’s growth strategy.”
Rod Williams, CEO at Tes Global, said: “We’re proud of our Supply Agencies and the progress they have made under their talented management team. The group of businesses has great potential to expand with the support of LDC. This transaction will free up resources for Tes Global to push our strategy to build a market-leading portfolio of online and software-enabled services for schools and teachers worldwide. We will continue to add digital innovations that make the professional lives of teachers and school leaders easier.”
LDC was advised by Grant Thornton (Corporate Finance, Debt Advisory and Commercial due diligence), BDO (Financial due diligence), Brown Jacobson (Legal), Baringa Partners (Operational due diligence), Westminster Advisors (Political due diligence) and Intechnica (IT due diligence).
Tes Global was advised by Houlihan Lokey (Corporate Finance) and Travers Smith (Legal), Deloitte (Financial due diligence) and PwC (Market due diligence).