Investment banks are expected to find out in the coming days if they have won a role advising Anchorage Capital Partners on a possible sale of its Affinity Education childcare business, estimated to be worth about $700m.
Some say US-based investment bank Morgan Stanley is well placed, although more presentations to the private equity firm were to be held on Wednesday as part of a beauty parade that began at the start of the week.
Peter Brownie of Stanton Road Partners, a former Morgan Stanley and Luminis Partners investment banker, is already offering assistance to the group. It is understood that an investment bank’s role will involve a move to potentially provide fresh debt for Affinity, with Anchorage still to determine whether it will fire the starting gun on a sales process.
The understanding is that the private equity firm could be looking at a refinancing worth about $350m.
The private equity firm has already had offers for the Brisbane-based business that owns at least 150 centres throughout Australia.
Luminis Partners worked with Affinity Education when it ran a sales process for the business in 2018.
However, after receiving offers, it opted to retain the operation.
Recent approaches are understood to have come from privately held childcare operators rather than listed groups such as G8 or Think Childcare.
Think Childcare is currently at the centre of a takeover battle between private equity firm Alceon and Busy Bees Early Learning. Busy Bees is owned by Ontario Teachers and is advised by Rothschild, although the Canadian pension fund is now not believed to have made any offers for Affinity.
Affinity is believed to be making about $65m in annual EBITDA.
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