The Company is a specialist insurance broker focussed on the childcare sector and provides a wide range of insurance cover for nurseries, Pre and Post School groups, childminders and nannies. It also transacts broader commercial insurance business.  Established in the mid 1960s the Company is the pre-eminent broker in the childcare sector.

“Identifying the logical buyers with the appetite and strategic interest was important to achieve best value, as well as ensuring management succession was secure. “

IMAS built a relationship with the Company over a 10-year period, initially looking to assist with its strategic development and more recently on transactional matters as the Directors and shareholders were starting to think about their exit from the business.  Part of the process involved taking the Directors on the journey from being owner managers and getting them to see the business from a potential purchaser’s point of view.  This confirmed the need for succession planning and ensuring that there was a full management team to take the business forward under new ownership.

IMAS was responsible for developing the necessary financial models and forecasting techniques, alongside the more recently recruited managing director designate and other existing directors, to ensure that the full potential of the Company was visible, especially under the control of a potential new owner.  Considerable cost savings and new business development opportunities were identified and built into the Business Plan projections.

With a deep knowledge of the buyer market for this type of business, IMAS was able to finesse a highly competitive process tightly focused on a limited number of buyers. As a specialist business with good results, the bidding companies involved were extremely keen to secure the company and thus we were able to achieve a very satisfactory value for our clients.