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Georgia Childcare Business Brokerage

Sell Your Georgia Childcare Center, Preschool, or Private School With Complete Confidentiality

With 37+ years of exclusive early-education transaction experience, SIP and its Georgia-licensed team help owners maximize exit value while protecting staff, enrolled families, and legacy.

Request a Confidential Georgia ValuationCall (888) 881-0118 (Hablamos Español)
  • 37+ YearsEst. 1989
  • 1,000+Centers sold
  • $1B+In closed sales
  • ConfidentialBlind-profile process

Why Selling a Childcare Business in Georgia Requires a Specialist Broker

Selling a licensed childcare learning center in Georgia requires coordinating a DECAL (Bright from the Start) change of ownership, Georgia's Pre-K continuation, CAPS enrollment, and Quality Rated status. General business brokers often overlook these regulatory triggers, risking closing delays or enrollment loss.

Strictly speaking, a Georgia childcare license does not move with the business. DECAL's rules say a license to operate a child care learning center is not transferable, so the new owner applies for its own through DECAL's change-of-ownership process. That one rule sets off a chain of steps the buyer, the lender, and you all have to plan around:

  • A permit, then a license. DECAL recognizes the sale when it issues the new owner a permit to operate, followed by a temporary and then a final license.
  • Georgia's Pre-K continuation. The Pre-K Program is generally non-transferable, and Pre-K payments are on hold while the change of ownership is processed.
  • CAPS and Quality Rated. The new owner needs an approved CAPS enrollment application, and a Quality Rated rating is not transferred automatically.
  • Current rules, not grandfathered ones. Grandfathered exemptions don't transfer, and approvals and waivers issued to you generally don't either.

SIP has focused on childcare and private-school transactions since E.T. and Pam Strickland founded the firm in 1989, and our Georgia broker, Robert L. Johnson, currently owns a center in Monroe, Georgia. We build these steps into the purchase agreement and closing schedule from the start, so licensing and funding deadlines are planned for, not discovered late.

How We Value Georgia Daycares, Preschools & Educational Real Estate

A defensible price starts with the right earnings measure and a clear view of the real estate. We work through both with you before your business goes to market.

SDE or EBITDA

Owner-operated centers are usually valued on seller's discretionary earnings (SDE): profit with the owner's salary, benefits, and one-time or personal expenses added back, because the buyer will usually step into the owner's role. Larger centers and multi-site groups with a director and management team in place are usually valued on EBITDA, the measure multi-unit operators and investors use to compare acquisitions.

Leased Facility or Fee-Simple Property

In a leased center, much of the value rides on the lease: the term remaining, renewal options, rent, and whether the landlord will consent to an assignment or a new lease for the buyer. When you own the building outright (fee simple), the real estate is valued separately from the business, and the two can be sold together or separately.

Keep the Building, Become the Landlord

Owners who want ongoing income can sell the business, keep the real estate, and sign the buyer to a new triple-net (NNN) lease, under which the tenant pays property taxes, insurance, and maintenance on top of rent. The rent you set works on both sides: it is an expense in the business's earnings and the income that sets the building's value as an investment.

Multiples vary widely: two Georgia centers with similar revenue can be valued very differently once enrollment, staff tenure, licensing history, Georgia's Pre-K classrooms, CAPS participation, Quality Rated status, and the lease are taken into account. How our confidential valuation works

Navigating Georgia DECAL Licensing, Pre-K & CAPS Transitions

What changes hands in a Georgia childcare sale, what doesn't, and who signs off.

Who licenses the new owner

Georgia's Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL), known as Bright from the Start, licenses child care learning centers. The buyer applies for a change of ownership online in its own DECAL KOALA account, and closing documents are uploaded on or after the sale date. DECAL recognizes the change only when it issues a permit, which lets the new owner operate until the final license is granted; your program stays open until then.

Background checks and orientation

Once DECAL issues the permit, staff record-check clearance letters transfer to the new license number, so your team doesn't start over. DECAL also asks new owners to complete its online orientation course through their GaPDS account.

Georgia's Pre-K Program

Georgia's Pre-K Program is generally non-transferable, and a request to continue classes doesn't guarantee funding for the new owner. Pre-K payments are placed on hold during the change of ownership; if continuation is approved, the new owner accepts the current year's Pre-K grant agreement and the payments are released. The Pre-K Division notifies the new owner of continuation status once the new owner is licensed.

CAPS and Quality Rated

To serve CAPS families, the new owner needs a Quality Rated status (transferred or provisional), a permit or license, and an approved CAPS enrollment application. Once the buyer holds a permit, the seller can no longer provide care or receive CAPS payments, and earlier payments are settled between buyer and seller. Quality Rated ratings aren't transferred automatically: DECAL interviews the new owner, and approval isn't guaranteed.

Read DECAL's change-of-ownership guidance

General information, not legal advice. Agencies update their forms and rules, so confirm current requirements with your licensing office.

Statewide Representation Across Every Major Georgia Market

SIP's Georgia-licensed broker and associates represent sellers across the state. DECAL licenses child care learning centers statewide, so the same change-of-ownership rules apply in every market.

  • Metro Atlanta

    • Fulton & DeKalb counties
    • Cobb & Cherokee counties
    • Gwinnett & Forsyth counties

  • North & Northeast Georgia

    • Gainesville & Hall County
    • Athens
    • Rome & Dalton

  • Middle & East Georgia

    • Macon & Warner Robins
    • Augusta
    • Columbus

  • Coastal & South Georgia

    • Savannah
    • Brunswick
    • Valdosta & Albany

Don't see your area? Our Georgia team works statewide; call (888) 881-0118.

Georgia Childcare Sellers: Common Questions

Private. Confidential. No Obligation.

Request a Confidential Georgia Valuation

Tell us about your Georgia center and what you are considering. Your inquiry is confidential and puts you under no obligation.

Robert L. Johnson, Broker at School Investment Properties, childcare business brokerage

Broker | Multi-State

Robert L. Johnson

Robert has owned and operated several centers in the Southeast and currently owns a center in Monroe, Georgia. That operating experience helps bring the right buyer and seller together and keep a sale moving through closing.

Meet our team

Also licensed in Georgia

  • Robert E. JohnsonSales Associate
  • Conner JohnsonSales Associate
  • Madolyn ColeSales Associate
  • Kevin StricklandSales Associate
  • Edward SpaethAssociate

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(888) 881-0118

Hablamos Español

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