Lloyds agrees £8m funding deal to support science firm’s growth

BANKERS in Birmingham have agreed an £8m funding deal to support the growth of a listed scientific instruments manufacturer.

A team from Lloyds Bank Wholesale Banking & Markets in the city has backed AIM-listed Judges Scientific to enable the business to continue its growth through the acquisition of Hampshire-based scientific instrument specialists Global Digital Systems Ltd.

Judges Scientific, based in West Sussex, specialises in the design and manufacture of scientific instruments. The deal follows the business’s growth strategy of acquiring top-quality instrument companies with established reputations in worldwide markets. The latest deal is its biggest acquisition to date.

The deal was led by Lloyds Bank Relationship Director Murray Stewart, who has worked with the Judges Scientific management team since 1990.  

Mr Stewart said: “We’ve supported Judges with a number of acquisitions and are delighted to be involved in the acquisition of Global Digital Systems, which marks such an important step in Judge’s drive to increase the scale of its business.

“Global Digital Systems is at the forefront of its market and has a very strong and dedicated management team, making it a great fit with Judges’ existing portfolio.”

Alex Hambro, chairman of Judges, added: “The team at Lloyds Bank has always been hugely supportive of our growth strategy. Their knowledge of our business and future aspirations ensured we had the right finance package in place to secure Global Digital Systems.  

“This is Judges’ largest acquisition in terms of sales and profits and we expect it to have a meaningful impact on our overall performance.”

The deal follows the acquisition of Suffolk-based microscope specialists Deben last year, as well as a number of other, earlier acquisitions all of which were funded by the bank.

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