Ashfords lead on Plymouth Nursery multi-million Pound Deal

Leading law firm Ashfords LLP has successfully overseen the sale of a Plymouth-based childcare provider to a Chinese education company. Bambinos Childcare Centres has been bought by JiaYi Education in a multimillion pound deal, which is thought to be the first of its kind in the UK.

Bambinos has four childcare centres in the Plymouth area which employ 78 staff, all of whose jobs will be unaffected by the deal. JiaYi, who run several schools in China, specialise in educational research, children’s learning and mathematics tuition. The deal makes JiaYi the first Chinese investor to buy a childcare provider in the UK.

Ashfords advised the family-run business on the sale of their shares and in relation to intellectual property, tax, property, employment and regulatory matters.

Associate, Dominic Ring who lead the deal said, “This was a great opportunity for Ashfords to represent a family-run business in this historic deal. We have dealt with several complex issues around IP, regulatory and contractual matters and helped ensure JaiYi Education fully understood compliance with the OFSTED requirements of childcare provisions as part of the transaction.”

Jemma Honey, the new chief executive of Bambinos Ltd and daughter of the founders of the business said, “The potential for Bambinos as a company is fantastic and opportunities for staff are going to be wonderful. We are planning a trip for staff in September to China to learn more about nursery provision in China and bring those skills back to Plymouth.”

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