You want to sell your daycare center? Then it's good to know what the takeover market in the field of daycare centers looks like. With the increase in two-income couples with children, there is an increasing need for daycare centers. Daycare centers that operate as efficiently as possible with fully automated child scheduling and communication via apps with parents, for example, will have more of a future.
The number of mergers and acquisitions has only increased since the end of the economic crisis. Currently, about forty to fifty daycare centers are sold on an annual basis, partly because the vast majority consist of only one employed person and thus cannot engage in economies of scale/scaling.
There are many ways to value a business. A common method of expressing the value of a business is "a factor x gross annual profit." This factor is also called multiple and another designation for gross annual profit is EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest Taxes Depreciation and Amortization).
In business services, the sector to which nurseries belong, an indicative EBITDA multiple range of 4.6 to 5.5 is currently used, according to the Brookz Takeover Barometer. The average EBITDA multiple across all SME sectors is 4.90.
The valuation of a business is often the starting point for negotiations between buyer and seller. The outcome of these negotiations is the final sales price. So valuation and price are two different quantities. Besides valuation, the price is also determined by possible scarcity in the market, bargaining power of the parties, the strategic value of the business for the buyer and possible synergy effects for the buyer (cost savings, purchasing advantages).
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Do you want to buy a business or sell a business in the business services sector? With this Brookz Sector Monitor, we want to present buyers and sellers with facts, figures and an outlook that provide insight into the number of transactions, the value development of businesses and the latest trends and developments in the business services sector. Because in every buying or selling process, thorough preparation gives peace of mind, overview and structure.
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More working parents and higher childcare subsidies are ensuring the continued popularity of daycare centers. At the same time, stricter quality requirements are causing rising operating costs and higher childcare rates. Because of the many changes and uncertainties and the still limited financial resilience of many childcare organizations, tight control of healthy finances is more important than ever, according to ING.
There is an increasing supply of integrated child centers. Here, care and education are integrated. Integral child centers are day care centers, playgroups, out-of-school care (bso) and schools for children aged 0 to 12. Preferably, these facilities are in one place.
In figures, the number of daycare centers in 2024 looked as follows(CBS):
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A number of trends and developments will inevitably cause changes in the coming years, but also offer nurseries many growth and acquisition opportunities:
With the rising number of dual-income earners and the fact that parents do not want to take their children from different locations, there is an increasing demand for daycare centers. They are looking for a place where children are not only taught, but also supported and cared for. Rabobank expects a further increase in integrated child centers based on this development.
Child care organizations need to stay connected to demand-driven innovations to stay competitive such as serious gaming, where children learn skills virtually through play.
Daycare centers that operate as efficiently as possible (fully automated child scheduling, billing and communication via apps with parents will have more of a future. In addition, they can do this through a good management system, flexible cost base and flexible response to parents' wishes such as opening hours.
According to Rabobank's sector report, in the coming years there will also be substantial staff shortages in the childcare sector, which will mean that centers will be forced to close their doors more and more often (a few half-days a week).
Sustainability can bring better patronage to daycare centers. Decisive factors can include sustainable toys, lots of outdoor play, plant-based meals and waste separation. Sustainable premises and the use of recyclable diapers can also be a plus, according to Rabobank.
