LDC marks milestone with £300m pledge
UP to £300m of investment has been pledged by the Manchester office of LDC to support North West mid-sized businesses over the next three years.
The commitment coincides with the Manchester office’s 15th year in the region, during which time it has invested over £530m and generated gross gains of more than £250m.
Led by Johnny Bell and Ged Gould, the team in Manchester has become one of LDC’s most successful operations in the UK having backed more than 45 management teams in the region since it launched.The team’s successful exit from internet business Metronet was voted Private Equity Exit of the Year at the North West Rainmaker Awards in June .
The private equity firm has also delivered £36m in additional capital to back the growth of its portfolio, including ATG Access, Angus Fire and Synexus.
The portfolio in the North West has a combined turnover of just under £1bn and supports nearly 8,000 jobs. Since LDC opened its doors in Manchester in 2000, it has backed some of the region’s best known businesses, including Christy Towels, British Salt, Entertainment Magpie and kidsunlimited.
The £300m regional pledge is part of LDC’s £1.2bn plan to increase its investment in the UK’s mid-sized businesses. The funding will help more management teams access capital, strategic guidance and operational support needed to achieve scale both domestically and internationally.
To deliver the funding, LDC’s Manchester office has expanded to eight full-time professionals, including investment directors, Simon Braham, Richard Ibbett and Chris Wright, and will be supported with the arrival of business development lead Gillian Sharman. Sharman, who joins from BDO, has nearly 10 years’ experience in the corporate finance sector having worked with Altium, Ford Campbell and Zeus Capital.
Johnny Bell, director and joint head of LDC in the North West, said: “Over the past 15 years, LDC has shown what a powerful catalyst that private equity can be in driving growth, job and wealth creation and trade in the North West economy.
“With the right funding, strategic and operational support and access to extensive non-executive director networks, we have been able to unlock the full potential of mid-sized businesses across the region and create some of its fastest growing and most exciting companies.”
Ged Gould, director and joint head of LDC in the North West, added: “The investment commitment reflects the confidence we have in the North West and the ambition of our business community. Our flexibility enables us to invest in the broadest range of transaction types and deal sizes, across the full lower to upper mid-market range. We look forward to another 15 years of supporting great businesses and helping them to become the success stories of tomorrow.”
Earlier this year, LDC’s Regional Mid-market Barometer showed that the North lagged the rest of the UK in growth of mid-market transaction activity, the volume of lower mid-market deals (£5m-£50m) in the North remained flat between 2013 and 2014 (58 deals), while the upper mid-market (£50m-£150m) saw a significant boost in deal volume from eight to 12 deals.
In the year to date, LDC has already invested £200m of equity in seven businesses, including Synexus, holiday park group Away Resorts and online travel agent Iglu, and generated exit proceeds of more than £300m in six divestments.
Its portfolio of companies collectively generates £4bn of revenues and over £400m of profit, and employs in excess of 30,000 people.
