Five Family-Owned Childcare Centers Sold in New York

HINGE Early Education Advisors is pleased to announce the sale of Maple Leaf Childcare and its five schools in the Albany, New York area. Husband-and-wife founders John and Linda Moran established Maple Leaf as a staple of the community in 1988. Now ready to retire, they sought out HINGE to find a successor aligned with their standards of excellence — and maximize the value of their business and real estate.

“It was important to us that everyone got what they deserved,” says Linda. “We wanted to ensure that our students and their families continue to receive nurturing, high-quality early education, that our teachers and staff are well taken care of, and that we as owners were compensated fairly for everything we built and invested into our schools over nearly 40 years.”

Finding the Right Path for Selling

For years, the Morans fielded calls from larger childcare providers and investment groups that wanted to buy their schools. Listening to the pitches, they were surprised at how low their offers were compared to what they had in mind.

“We felt like we were really low-balled,” Linda adds. “After that experience, we knew we would need representation when we were ready to sell.”

At the suggestion of a good friend in the early education industry, the Morans engaged HINGE Advisors to confidentially take their schools to market and lead the transaction on their behalf.

Hands-On Support for a Family Business

“We knew selling would take a lot of work, but we didn’t realize how big of a job it was until we were living through the process. We couldn’t have done this without the HINGE team,” says John.

The HINGE team supporting John, Linda, and their adult children who were running the day-to-day operations included Transaction Advisor Henry Tiberi, Senior Financial Analyst Rusty Bailey, Financial Analyst Marnie Rhen, Diligence Manager Carrie Pergerson, and others.

“With exceptional knowledge and professionalism, HINGE took what we had as a family business, made sense of it all, and brought us to market in the strongest possible position,” he continues. “Not only did they help us find an international buyer that will continue investing in our legacy. They also saved us countless hours by doing the tedious legwork for due diligence, Quality of Earnings, and closing. I can’t tell you what a relief it was knowing this was all handled for us by experts who live and breathe this every day.”

Have you been approached by a buyer about selling your school? Contact us confidentially and learn how to protect your best interests, staff, and families.