For InvestorsOperator-Led Due Diligence for Early Years
Most commercial due diligence in early years is done by people who have never run a nursery. Litus brings operator experience to every CDD engagement, backed by specialist disciplines across regulatory compliance, safeguarding, estates, technology, and workforce. The result is due diligence that finds what the spreadsheet misses.
How We Support Investors01
Pre-Acquisition Due Diligence
Operator-led CDD that goes beyond the financial model. Our due diligence covers funded hour economics, fee architecture sustainability, regulatory compliance risk, safeguarding governance, estates condition, technology architecture, and workforce stability. Staffed with specialist disciplines drawn from ten areas of early years expertise. The report tells you what you are buying, what it will cost to fix, and where the value creation opportunity sits.
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Post-Acquisition Value Creation
Retained engagement working alongside the management team to deliver the value creation plan identified in the CDD. Margin diagnostic, cost reduction, revenue optimisation, operational restructuring, and technology transformation. Measured in EBITDA impact, not hours billed.
03
Technology Architecture
Nursery management system selection, safeguarding platform assessment, workforce scheduling tools, and the integration architecture that connects them. We have direct experience with every major platform in the sector and understand how technology decisions made during integration shape operational performance for years.
TRACK RECORD£3.7m
EBITDA growth delivered in 12 months. PE-backed group, £98m P&L, 100+ settings.
£1.2m
Annual cost savings through AI-driven operational efficiency.
100%
Year-on-year revenue growth. Early years SaaS, seed to Series A.
20+ years
Ofsted Outstanding. Proprietor-operated setting.
DEAL READINESS DIAGNOSTICAssess the deal readiness of your early years acquisition target. This diagnostic covers the five areas we examine in a full CDD engagement: revenue quality and funding exposure, margin visibility, operational efficiency, scalability and integration risk, and value creation opportunity.
Deal Readiness Diagnostic
Assess margin risk and value creation opportunity in an early years acquisition target. Built around the commercial due diligence framework we use on live transactions.
What this diagnostic does
The five risk areas
- Revenue Quality
- Margin Visibility
- Operational Efficiency
- Scalability
- Value Creation Opportunity
Who this is for
Deal teams, portfolio operations, and investment committees evaluating early years platforms, bolt-on acquisitions, or portfolio companies approaching exit. Answer based on what you know about the target from information memoranda, management presentations, and site visits. Where you do not know the answer, select the option that best reflects your current level of visibility.
Deal Readiness Diagnostic Results
Unlock your detailed results
Your full risk profile, radar chart, area-by-area analysis and primary risk assessment are ready. Complete the form below to access them.
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Risk profile across the five areas
Primary Risk
Next steps
The Deal Readiness Diagnostic identifies where risk is concentrated. A Commercial Due Diligence report quantifies it and gives the investment committee what it needs to proceed.
Commission a CDD report
Talk to Dane Hardie about a full operator-led Commercial Due Diligence engagement for your target.
Book a callFive perspectivesWhy Litus
Five perspectives on every deal. Operator, investor, management team, regulator, technology provider. Dane has sat in every one of these seats and brings that breadth to every CDD engagement. The team behind each engagement is drawn from ten specialist disciplines covering operations, finance, regulation, safeguarding, estates, quality, technology, workforce, and international markets. You get the depth of a sector-specialist firm with the precision of operator-led advisory.
Operator
Investor
Management team
Regulator
Technology provider
INVESTOR FAQ-
Our commercial due diligence covers regulatory compliance and Ofsted risk, safeguarding governance, estates condition and capital expenditure risk, technology architecture and systems integration, and workforce stability alongside the commercial and operational analysis. We staff each CDD with the specialist disciplines the target requires.
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Yes. Post-acquisition value creation is one of our three core service lines. We work with portfolio companies on margin improvement, operational restructuring, technology transformation, and management team development.
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Yes. Dane led the operational turnaround at a PE-backed nursery group with a £98m P&L and 100+ settings, delivering £3.7m of EBITDA growth in 12 months. Litus has worked with PE technology advisory firms on nursery management system selection for investor-backed platforms. Full track record is on this page above.
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Four to six weeks for a standard platform acquisition. Bolt-on acquisitions with simpler structures can be shorter. We scope the timeline during the discovery conversation based on the size and complexity of the target.
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Yes. We have associate expertise covering 29 European markets with operational experience in Spain, Australia, and multi-country early years expansion. The International Markets discipline on the Expertise page has more detail.