Pensions trustee provider secures further PE-backing
Mid-market private equity firm ECI Partners has invested in a professional pensions trusteeship provider, marking an initial exit for LDC.
Independent Governance Group (IGG) has seen revenue and headcount boosted by more than 300% since LDC’s first investment in November 2020.
LDC has now reinvested a minority stake alongside ECI to support the continued growth of the business, which already provides professional services to 386 pension schemes with total scheme assets of £324bn.
IGG was founded in February 2023 following the merger of Ross Trustees and Independent Trustee Services (ITS), creating a single destination for professional pensions trusteeship, scheme secretarial, pensions managerial and governance services.
During the partnership, LDC supported CEO Andrew Bradshaw and the team to complete five acquisitions and boost headcount to more than 200 people.
Over the last 18 months, IGG has established a strong regional presence in Bristol, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Manchester alongside its London headquarters. In the process, it has added pensions and employee benefits communications and investment governance expertise to its core services, delivered under the Like Minds and IC Select brands respectively.
Andrew Bradshaw, CEO of IGG said: “IGG has rapidly grown into one of the leading providers of trusteeship and governance services in the UK. This is due to the hard work of our skilled and diverse team, which ensures pension schemes of all shapes and sizes look to IGG to deliver the knowledge, experience and perspectives essential for strong governance. Thank you to LDC who have supported us on our journey so far, enabling us to strengthen our market position and achieve key strategic goals.
“We are all very excited about the next stage of our journey. With ECI on board alongside the continued support of LDC, we are well-positioned to pursue our plans for growth, deliver innovative solutions to meet our clients’ evolving needs and, importantly, create new career opportunities for our talent.”
Chris Handy, Partner at LDC, added: “Over the last four years, Andrew and the management team at IGG have delivered transformational growth and created a market leader in the pensions industry. We’ve had the privilege of supporting their growth journey and the success they have achieved is testament to the ambition and capability of their entire team. We’re looking forward to continuing our support for the business.”
Michael Butler, Partner at ECI, commented: “We were attracted by IGG’s fantastic track record of delivering award-winning pension services with excellent client retention, delivered by a highly skilled team. We’re looking forward to working with the IGG team on the next stage of the company’s growth, building on its phenomenal achievements so far. The company provides a strong organic growth opportunity due to growing demand for trustee and governance services as the pension regulatory environment continues to grow in complexity, and we also anticipate acquisitions to further boost growth.”
Advisors to ECI: PwC (Corporate Finance & Commercial Due Diligence), Squire Patton Boggs (Legal), A&M (Financial Due Diligence) & Clearwater (Debt Advisory)
Advisors to LDC and IGG: KPMG (Corporate Finance), PwC (Financial, Commercial and Tax Due Diligence), Gateley (Legal); Eversheds (Management Legal) or Liberty (Management Corporate Finance)
