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8 July 2021

InfraVia enters into an exclusive agreement to invest in Grandir, a leading French and international childcare and early education player

InfraVia has entered into an exclusive agreement with Eurazeo and BPI to acquire a stake in Grandir, a leading player in the global childcare and early education market. Alongside Jean-Emmanuel Rodocanachi – the company’s co-founder and CEO. InfraVia will support Grandir to develop and accelerate its sustainable growth in France and abroad.

Cofounded in 2000 by JeanEmmanuel Rodocanachi, Grandir is a leading global early education player operating more than 650 centers and 32,000 seats for children aged 0 to 6 in France, the UK, Canada, the US and Germany, having served more than 200,000 families since 2000.

Through its wellrecognized brand Les Petits Chaperons Rouges, Grandir is the number one operator in France by number of nurseries and a pioneer of the development of the French private nursery market. It now provides more than 13,000 seats for children aged 0 to 3 having mainly grown through the creation of new capacity in long term partnerships with private and public entities.


In more recent years, Grandir has grown internationally and selectively entered into Canada, the US, the UK and Germany through the acquisition of leading and recognized operators benefitting from high reputation locally and nationally.


InfraVia’s investment in Grandir is perfectly in line with its strategy of investing in social infrastructure providing essential services to the community and supported by long term macro trends. Early education has demonstrated it can resist economic downturns while offering long term and sustainable growth potential both through new capacity creation and market consolidation. Its infrastructure is essential for the economy at large and plays a key role in the contribution to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Bruno Candès, Partner at InfraVia, said: “We are very pleased to invest alongside JeanEmmanuel and his team and are impressed by their achievements having initiated the creation of the French private nursery market and subsequently expanded in selected and attractive international locations. Education and in particular the provision of quality early childcare is an essential part of the economy and society SDG development over the long term. As an infrastructure investor, we are particularly attracted by long-term sustainable trends and the greenfield opportunities arising from the significant undersupply in most Grandir’s markets as well as the stable growth perspectives.”

Jean-Emmanuel Rodocanachi, co-founder and CEO of Grandir, said: “Thanks to BPI France and Eurazeo we have grown from 250 nurseries in France in 2016 to over 650 nurseries and kindergartens today in five G7 countries in Europe and North America. The next decade will be driven by an increased focus on our three pillars: corporate clients, families, and talents, with the ambition to make Grandir their indisputable first choice. First, the density of our network will guarantee a great level of service to our corporate clients whether their employees work from home or at the office. Second, our digital tools and education curriculum, designed for children’s key competencies for the 21st century, will guarantee a dedicated quality education for every family. Finally, with one third of our workforce being part of the Z generation by 2025, our innovative human resources approach will guarantee the proper onboarding, care and training for our talents. We are very excited to share with InfraVia this new stage of the life of Grandir.”

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PRESS CONTACTS

INFRAVIA
Vincent LEVITA Founder and CEO
vlevita@infraviacapital.com
+33 (0)1 40 68 17 38

TADDEO
Delphine Granier
delphine.granier@taddeo.fr
+33 (0)6 33 05 48 50

GRANDIR
Béatrice MATHURIN Communication Director
b.mathurin@lpcr.fr
+33 (0)6 49 57 50 98

Karine ALLOUIS Image Sept
kallouis@image7.fr
+33 (0)6 11 59 23 2

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