The chain had run the 54-place nursery since it opened in 1993, but following a tendering exercise the university decided not to renew the contract. The nursery's management will transfer to Bright Horizons on 11 January.
Susan Hay, chair of Bright Horizons, said, 'We have a very thorough and detailed transition process, working with staff, students and parents.' She added that it would be the first time the group has managed a nursery for a university - and 'it is a sector we're very interested in'.
The university's tender process for the nursery attracted 13 bids. The runner-up was Crocus Early Years Centre, a small, local provider established in 2001, which runs two nurseries on school sites and manages one for the Wellcome Trust at the Genome Campus in Cambridge.
Ross Midgley, director of the Crocus Early Years Centre, said, 'We were disappointed we didn't get further, but it was a valuable experience. The fact that we came so close to winning the Cambridge University contract demonstrates that high-quality niche providers like Crocus can offer a real alternative to ever more consolidation by the big chains.'
Bright Horizons will also run a new purpose-built 88-place nursery at Cambridge University's West Cambridge site, which will cater for staff and students and will open next summer.
In the latest edition of Nursery World's supplement Nursery Chains (6 November), Bright Horizons ranked sixth in the table of the largest providers in the UK and Ireland, whle Kidsunlimited ranked seventh.