EUROPE: 10 MINUTES WITH...
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minutes with… RJD Partners Private equity firm RJD Partners recently bankrolled the management buyout of Improve International, a provider of training to the veterinary sector. Partner Frank Bulman discusses the deal and the impact of Covid-19 on his fund’s other education and training assets First, tell us about the origins of your buyout house, RJD Partners, and its investments to date RJD was founded in 2002 and has raised three institutional buyout funds investing in over 20 private mid-market UK businesses. We focus on specific niches within the broader services space and education and training has been a key focus area for us over a number of years, particularly so in our current fund. We have strong experience and expertise of different delivery models in the sector and have built up a wealth of contacts, which makes us a logical investment partner to consider for transaction sizes between £10 million and £50 million.
RJD owns a language-training and educational travel provider, Voyager, as well as Babington, an apprenticeship provider. Could you set out the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on these companies’ operations – and how they have adapted to meet the shifting demands and needs of learners? Voyager has not been able to run its language and other educational programmes since mid-March because of the now withdrawn FCO guidance to avoid overseas travel, as well as the ongoing government advice that schools should not run overnight trips or programmes. This is a huge pity for the pupils that will miss out on this educational experience on top of the lost classroom time in 2020. In terms of 2021, Voyager’s customers see their programmes as an integral part of their academic year, so many have already rebooked for 2021. In the meantime, the company has supported its schools’ home-schooling programmes through launching products like its virtual foreign-language escape room. Since our investment in Babington it has invested heavily
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in its online/blended learning proposition, which has meant that the majority of learning has continued remotely while centres have been closed. The employability side of the business has been impacted by the lockdown restrictions as the majority of learning takes place face-to-face, but is working to move much of this online and we believe the division will be in a position to work with the various government agencies involved in addressing the unfortunate but likely rise in unemployment resultingfrom the crisis. The government’s agenda remains to grow the number of apprentices in the UK and Babington is well set up to deliver this training going forward.
RJD recently closed its acquisition of Improve International, a provider of professional development training to the veterinary sector. Amid the Covid-19 outbreak, which has prevented in-person instruction for several months and could continue to do so for some time, what attracted your fund to this business? Improve is a market-leading provider of continuing education to veterinary professionals both in the UK and overseas. The global veterinary services market is supported by strong longterm growth drivers underpinned by increasing consumer spend on companion animals. As a market leader in a growing market where there is strongdemand from vets to upskill through postgraduate qualifications, we believe Improve to be a very attractive investment proposition. Improve delivers both fully online and face-to-face modular programmes and the pandemic has unsurprisingly impeded the face-to-face delivery side of the business. Classroom learning has largely been delivered through the use of video technologies while practical training has been postponed until next month when it will resume with appropriate
EducationInvestor Global • July/August 2020
