Levine Leichtman Capital Partners Announces The Acquisition Of Mander Portman Woodward Limited

LOS ANGELES, July 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Levine Leichtman Capital Partners ("LLCP"), a Los Angeles-based private equity firm, announced today that it has partnered with management to complete the acquisition of Mander Portman Woodward Limited ("MPW") from Apollo Global, Inc., a subsidiary of Apollo Group, Inc.  Based in London, England, MPW represents LLCP's first platform investment in Europe. 

MPW is a leading provider of high quality private education for students in their crucial transition from secondary school into UK universities.  As a platform that offers courses to over 900 students each year at its London, Cambridge and Birmingham campuses, MPW is one of the most well-known and regarded brands in the UK education market.  The company provides educational offerings to both domestic and international students who plan to continue their education at prominent universities in the UK.  Within each program, MPW has a long history of providing a premium educational experience and industry-leading educational outcomes.

The investment in MPW was funded from Levine Leichtman Capital Partners IV, L.P., a $1.1 billion private equity fund.  According to Lauren Leichtman, Co-Founder and CEO of LLCP, "MPW is the dominant brand in the private UK sixth form college market with a strong track record of growth and profitability.  MPW is widely recognized in the market for its superior educational offerings and student outcomes, which have allowed the company's students to gain entrance into the top UK universities.  We are excited to partner with the current CEO Nigel Stout and the rest of the MPW senior management team for our first platform investment in Europe, and look forward to the continued growth of the business."

Nigel Stout, MPW's Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We are very excited to be partnering with a world-class firm like Levine Leichtman, given the knowledge and years of experience that they will bring to our company.  LLCP has a long history of being a value-added partner to its portfolio companies and MPW will be able to derive huge benefit from their strategic, financial and M&A expertise as we seek to expand our college network and educational programmes to fuel our next stage of growth."

Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP acted as legal counsel to LLCP.

About Levine Leichtman Capital Partners
Levine Leichtman Capital Partners is a Los Angeles, California-based investment firm that manages approximately $5.0 billion of institutional investment capital through private equity partnerships, distressed debt and leveraged loan funds. LLCP is currently making new investments through Levine Leichtman Capital Partners IV, L.P., Levine Leichtman Capital Partners SBIC Fund, L.P., and Levine Leichtman Capital Partners Deep Value Fund II, L.P. Prior investments by Levine Leichtman Capital Partners include Luminator Technology Group, Hackney Ladish, Jon Douglas Real Estate Group, Overhill Farms and Quizno's.  For more information about Levine Leichtman Capital Partners, please visit www.llcp.com.