Moore Kingston Smith advises Sherborne Girls school on merger with Sherborne Schools Group

Sherborne Girls school has entrusted Moore Kingston Smith Corporate Finance with their merger with Sherborne Schools Group.

Sherborne Girls school is a boarding school for girls located in Sherborne, England. It was first opened in 1899 with a total of just 14 pupils. After three years, this number had grown to almost 100 as the school developed its status as one with high academic standards. These days, the boarding school has become one of the most prestigious in the country, with almost 500 pupils, 90% of them living on campus.

Sherborne School is a boys’ boarding school in the same location and has been providing education since the 12th century. Firstly, to just a few pupils, as part of the monastery, before becoming a free grammar school in the 17th and 18th centuries. It became a school in its current guise in 1850, under the leadership of the Reverend Hugo Daniel Harper.

In recent years, Sherborne School and Sherborne Girls have been extending the scope of their collaboration to benefit pupils at both schools. The mergers with Sherborne Prep in 2021 and Hanford in 2023 have created further exciting opportunities for all four schools to work together. The schools believe that the most effective way of harnessing these additional opportunities is through the creation of a single, overarching governance structure to facilitate and support cooperation between the schools.

This latest merger enables further collaboration across the education groups and creates operational efficiencies in the long term, which will facilitate and support cooperation between the schools.

Sherborne Girls school reached out to Moore Kingston Smith Corporate Finance to help facilitate the merger process due to the team’s extensive knowledge and experience in the education sector and their multi-disciplinary approach to due diligence. The Moore Kingston Smith Corporate Finance team, led by Dan Leaman, Partner, and supported by Charlie Killingbeck, Associate Director, provided financial due diligence services.

Fiona Clapp, Bursar and Clerk to the governors at Sherbourne Girls school, explained: “We’re delighted about the merger with Sherborne School to form the Sherborne Schools Group. It offers us opportunities to grow and expand while working closer with the schools we have been collaborating in recent years.  Throughout this merger, Moore Kingston Smith Corporate Finance has been an outstanding adviser, showcasing their knowledge of and expertise in the sector along with their exceptional attention to detail during the due diligence process.”

Dan Leaman, Corporate Finance Partner, commented: “This has been an exciting and engaging project to advise on. It has been a pleasure to work with some of the most prestigious schools in the country and help them with their ambitious growth plan. The future looks bright for the Sherborne Schools Group as they continue to expand. It has been great to be a part of their journey.”