EXCERPTS
Small childcare operators have lobbed bids for pieces of the ABC Learning empire, contrasting with impressions that only big players are in the race.
A German bilingual kindergarten group and a small NSW-based family owned operator yesterday confirmed interest in some of 705 centres that are up for sale.
"We've certainly not put...a bid for all of them," Froebel Australia managing director Olde Lorenzen said. Froebel is a non-profit operator, offering English-German childcare, which bought two centres in an April sale of more than 200 "unviable" ABC facilities.
Mr Lorenzen said receivers McGrathNicol, which controls the remaining ABC centres, had sent him a message that all bids would be examined.
Mr Lorenzen said it was hard to gauge whether Froebel's bid would be successful and it seemed the sales process -- overseen by UBS -- was geared towards one buyer.
"I would find it a shame if...we missed out on the opportunity to bring more diversity to the childcare industry," he said.
Mr Lorenzen said the two "unviable" centres were now close to full.
NSW-based NutureOne has also lodged a bid for 10 centres.
"I think the corporates will take the majority of the sites," NutureOne chief executive Geoff Hamilton said.
He said the "unviable" 23 centers NutureOne bought in April had been improved.
NutureOne had invested in training staff and lifted prices slightly in July, the typical time each year.
Mr Hamilton argued now-successful centres might impact on the 705 remaining ABC centres. He said the latest ABC centres on offer ranged from "fantastic to diabolic".
Kids in Care -- a childcare operator whose managers include former top ABC executives -- also bought almost 20 unviable centres in April. No one was available yesterday to say if they had bid for remaining centres.
Bids closed on Monday. Two potential big buyers are private equity group ArcherCapital and a non-profit consortium including Mission Australia.
McGrathNicol this month maintained remaining ABC centres provided high-quality care.
- reprinted from the Herald Sun