Inspired Education has acquired schools operator Alpha Plus Group from DV4, a fund managed by asset manager Delancey.

Delancey mandated Macquarie in October 2021 to explore a sale, as reported by this publication.

The acquisition comprises 17 schools and nurseries, including Wetherby School, Pembridge Hall School for Girls and Chepstow House School in London.

The deal also includes Wetherby Arts School, a new co-educational senior school set to open in 2025, which will be set in a state-of-the-art 60,000 square foot building in the Olympia development in West London. The transaction does not include the acquisition of the three Alpha Plus colleges.

Completion is expected to occur within a matter of months and until then Alpha Plus will remain under the management of Delancey.

Macquarie Capital acted as financial advisor to Delancey and Alpha Plus.

The sale ends a long holding period for Delancey, which acquired Alpha Plus in 2007 via its fund DV4 from private equity firm Sovereign Capital Partners for around £110 million. The seller, which had bought the business five years earlier for £26 million, generated a 53% IRR and a 5.5x return on its investment.

Inspired manages a network of over 80 schools, with 75,000 students across the world.