27 Sep 2011

Kidicorp expansion set to continue

7:13 am on 27 September 2011

Kidicorp says it plans to continue building new centres, despite, even after buying 124 existing ABC Learning Centres around the country.

The ABC centres came on the market after their Australian parent company went into receivership owing A$1.6 million.

Kidicorp first tried to buy them in November 2009, but its bid was rejected.

The company, which is based in Tauranga, has not revealed how much it paid. It is the largest private childcare operator in New Zealand.

Managing director Wayne Wright says the acquisition will effectively double the size of its business but that does not mean it will stop building more new centres.

He says the company has been setting up between eight and 12 new centres each year and he expects that to continue in line with population growth.

Mr Wright says Kidicorp currently accounts for 8% of the early childhood education sector and wants to maintain that proportion of the market as the population increases.

Kidicorp has also purchased the New Zealand College of Early Childhood Education in Christchurch.