Little Wonders' founder and managing director Ben Hurst announced the sale yesterday. Two have been sold in both Dunedin (St Clair and Roslyn) and Timaru and one each in Oamaru and Cromwell.
Settlement is scheduled for next month.
The six centres are licensed to accommodate up to 536 children, and according to Evolve the annualised operating profit is expected to be between $1.3million and $1.5million.
Mr Hurst said he was retaining three centres, two in Auckland and one in Wellington.
He said the sale of six of the nine Little Wonders came down to the demands of managing a national network when based in Auckland and with his own young family.
''At this time, acquisition by a company such as Evolve, with the requisite scale and systems in place to manage and continue to develop a high-quality group like ours, made sense,'' Mr Hurst said in a statement.
The Little Wonders acquisition would increase Evolve's portfolio of centres to 126 by June. Evolve's portfolio had grown from 105 centres a year ago. For its financial year to March, it had 120 centres.
Its revenue for that period was $126.5 million, with underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation at $31 million; posting a slightly increased profit at $15.9 million.
Evolve shares were up slightly at $1.04, having eased back after hitting a year high of $1.16 in late January.
Evolve chief executive Alan Wham said the southern Little Wonders purchase would lift Evolve's profile in areas where it had no representation.
The Little Wonders were popular purpose-built centres, averaging 80% occupancy, operating in areas with stable and growing demand, he said.
Before the Little Wonders acquisition, Evolve purchased two mid-size centres, one in Auckland and one in Canterbury; both averaging 100% occupancy, and in April sold a small West Coast child care centre.
Evolve brands include Lollipops Educare, Leaps & Bounds, Learning Adventures, Thrive Montessori and Pascals, plus home-based services including Porse and Au Pair Link. It also operated accredited training through Porse Education & Training and Life Education & Training.
