Barclays Private Equity in teachers buyout

Barclays Private Equity (BPE), the buyout arm of Barclays Capital, has made a £10m investment in the management buyout of teachers supply agency Teaching Personnel.

The business supports primary and secondary schools in England and Wales from 60 hubs and employs 180 trained recruitment consultants. Designed to enable TP to achieve further growth, the buyout coincides with a number of Government initiatives to improve the UK education system including commitments to reduce class sizes.

The management team was led by Gavin Donnelly, a founder director of TP and now managing director, who will retain a majority shareholding. Phil Griesbach led the investment for BPE.

Senior debt and working capital was provided by the Birmingham office of Barclays Acquisition Finance. Lead advisers on the purchase were NM Rothschild & Sons Corporate Finance, Wragge & Co (legal), Ernst & Young (financial due diligence) and Burlington Consultants (market consultants). The shareholders were advised by KPMG Corporate Finance, Milton Keynes and Eversheds.

BPE has completed around 300 transactions to date, including the recent MBO of Recruitment Solutions Group, as well as GLS Dudley, the educational product supplier. The unit invests capital provided by Barclays Group and Parallel Ventures, the UK fund of funds. The unit has offices in London and the British regions as well as Germany, France and Italy.