KinderCare Learning Centers
Chief Executive Grassgreen, informed by 'junk bond king' Michael Milken from the firm of Drexel Burnham Lambert, led the company on an ill-conceived diversification plan in the late 1980s.The company continued operating, although, according to a 1988 Forbes article, less than half of Kinder-Care's sales and profits for the year were expected to come from its child care centers.In January 1993, in a move that helped their balance sheet, KinderCare sold off Sylvan Learning Centers for $8 million.[13] The deal, valued at over US$1 billion, made KLC the nation's largest private childcare and education provider.[18] The parent company, KinderCare Education, also operates Knowledge Beginnings, Children's Creative Learning Centers (CCLC), and Champions.[24] George Ritzer criticizes the company for "hir[ing] short-term employees with little or no experience in child care".