Allura Partners appoints CPO for Affinity Education Group
In 2021, Affinity Education Group was acquired by Quadrant Private Equity from Anchorage Capital. As a leading early childhood education provider, Affinity owned and operated 150+ early childhood education and care centres across Australia’s east coast. They continue to be a leading force in the sector today.
The addition of Affinity strengthened Quadrant’s presence in the ECEC sector, complementing the funds existing majority stake in Junior Adventures Group, Australia’s largest provider of outside school hours care.
Since joining Quadrant’s portfolio, Affinity has acquired 50 new early childhood centres, increasing their network to more than 200+ centres across Australia. This growth has been spearheaded by Chief Executive Officer, Tim Hickey, who has been with Affinity for nearly a decade.
Allura Partners has a long-standing relationship with both Tim and Affinity, having successfully placed him back in 2015 when supporting Anchorage Capital Partners on their public to private takeover of the early childhood education provider.
Most recently, in partnership with Chris Coates, Managing Partner at Quadrant and working closely with Tim, Allura Partners undertook a search for the Chief People Officer position led by Leanne Wells, Principal at Allura Partners.
As part of this process, we thoroughly mapped similar industries and identified executives within multisite services business across health and consumer sectors in Brisbane. The search led to the appointment of Rolanda Mitchell as Chief People Officer.
Rolanda joins Affinity Education with a strong industry experience, including daycare and aged care. Her most recent role was Head of People & Culture at Aveo which is backed by Brookfield Asset Management.
About Quadrant Private Equity
Quadrant was established in 1996 and has grown to be one of the leading private equity investors in Australia and New Zealand having raised 11 funds with total capital of A$6.4 billion. The management team at Quadrant has successfully partnered with business founders and senior management in completing more than 83 investments and 58 exits across a broad spectrum of industries.
About Affinity Education
Established in 2013, Affinity Education Group is now one of the largest operators of early learning and childcare centres in Australia, with the trusted brands of Milestones, Kids Academy, Papilio and Aussie Kindies falling under their umbrella. Their aim is to inspire a love of lifelong learning through our fun, engaging curriculum, specially designed for children aged 0-5 years.