PE OWNED · ON WATCH
The Learning Experience
Includes TLE
Childcare / Early Education · Deerfield Beach, FL
- PE Firm
- Harvest Partners
- Year Acquired
- 2025
Your toddler's daycare just got a new PE owner. The second one in seven years.
Too Soon to Tell
- Golden Gate Capital acquired The Learning Experience in 2018, then sold the majority stake to Harvest Partners in July 2025
- The chain has grown to more than 430 schools across the U.S. and U.K. under PE ownership
- Two different PE owners in seven years — each needing returns from a business that serves toddlers and preschoolers
Early Signs
- PE ownership of childcare chains has been documented to prioritize enrollment numbers and revenue over the child's experience
- In a 2024 analysis of investor-owned childcare, a center director put it bluntly: 'the end user is a dollar sign, it's not a child'
- The Congressional Research Service published a brief examining PE investment in large for-profit childcare chains, with The Learning Experience on its list
Sources
- The End User Is a Dollar Sign, It's Not a Child(2024-04)
- Golden Gate Capital Acquires The Learning Experience(2018-01)
- Harvest Partners Announces Acquisition of The Learning Experience(2025-07)
- Private Equity Investments in Large For-Profit Child Care Organizations: In Brief — Congressional Research Service (R48252)(2024-10)
- The end user is a dollar sign — Early Learning Nation(2024-04-01)