Rainbow Private Nursery School in Tadcaster was sold leasehold to an unnamed buyer for an undisclosed sum.
Courtney Donaldson, a director at Christie & Co, the agent which carried out the sale, said, 'In terms of the price achieved it's the most expensive day nursery transaction in the UK.'
She confirmed that Rainbow had not been bought by a nursery group.
Rainbow is also one of the largest nurseries in the country. It has 216 places for children from nought to five years old and provides care for more than 580 children. It also has a junior club providing after-school care up to 12 years old and a holiday club.
Ms Donaldson said the sale of the Rainbow nursery demonstrated renewed confidence in the market and that high-quality private day nurseries with good occupancy levels are in demand.
She said, 'A large number of sales are going through. The ABC deal was a catalyst. There is greater optimism in the market than this time last year.'
As Neighbourhood Nursery funding comes to an end, she said, there are 'a handful of Neighbourhood Nurseries coming to the market that are trading well and are very profitable'.
However, she added that there were some neighbourhood nurseries 'in dire straits' with occupancy of around 30 per cent that would be closing rather than be put up for sale.
Ms Donaldson predicted that there would be 'sizable acquisitions' going through in the next few months.
ends