The sale also sees the private company Knowledge Universe, a Singapore-based global education firm co-founded in 1996 by Michael Milken, as the majority shareholder and financial backer.
Knowledge Universe is the largest for-profit education and training company in the US, with stakes of varying sizes in businesses including KinderCare Learning Centers, a group of 2,000 early childhood centres, and Pat's Schoolhouse, which has dual language Chinese/English childcare centres in Singapore. The company is also involved in primary and secondary education.
ABC, once the largest childcare company in the world, went into receivership and administration last November.
Group managing director John Woodward told Nursery World that the original Busy Bees management team have bought a 'substantial' share in the business.
He said, 'We still have the ambition to expand in the sector, but need the financial backing to do it.'
He said there would be 'a limited amount of new builds' and acquisition of other nursery groups.
Asked how he felt about the deal, Mr Woodward said, 'Great. It's been a relatively hectic last 12 months because we knew ABC were in difficulties, but we are able to continue with the business and we have new backing.'
Speculation that the original owners would try to buy back the business had been rife, following ABC's announcement of its decision to sell the UK nurseries nearly a year ago (News, 10 July 2008.)
Mr Woodward would not comment directly at that time but told Nursery World, 'It's not surprising that people are speculating. The current management team are interested in remaining associated with Busy Bees for a long time. We all intend to stay.'
THE MAN BEHIND KNOWLEDGE UNIVERSE
Chairman and co-founder Michael Milken is known in the United States as much for his philanthropic endeavours, particularly for investing millions in medical research, as for the fact that he was convicted for securities fraud and served time in jail in the early 1990s.
Milken, 62, became a leading and influential figure in the 1970s and 1980s world of high finance and corporate takeovers. In 1982 he set up the Milken Family Foundation to fund medical research and education. He became known as a bond trader for expanding the use of high-yield bonds (also called junk bonds). Nicknamed 'the Junk Bond King' by the American press, his career has been cited as the inspiration for Gordon Gecko, played by Michael Douglas in the film 'Wall Street'. On his release, after serving 22 months of a recommended ten-year jail term, Milken was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He founded the Prostate Cancer Foundation, the world's largest source of philanthropic funds for prostate cancer research. In a 2004 cover story Fortune magazine called him 'The man who changed medicine' for his influence on medical research.
In 2007 Forbes magazine said he had an estimated worth of $2.1 billion and was ranked the 458th richest person in the world.