News
IWS Group secures LDC investment to support acquisitive growth plans
19 Aug 2022
Leading mid-market private equity firm LDC has made a significant minority investment in international warehouse safety, impact protection and storage equipment provider, IWS Group, to support a continued buy and build strategy.
IWS Group provides essential products and services to the global warehousing, logistics and material handling sectors. Through its growing family of companies, IWS Group provides its customers with a one-stop solution to make their sites safer, more efficient and environmentally sustainable.
The Group has a global customer base across multiple channels including operators, contractors, system integrators and resellers.
In the UK alone, the number of business premises used for transport, logistics and warehousing has almost doubled in the last decade(1). With the on-going rise of e-commerce, the requirement for warehousing solutions is set to continue to grow in the UK and across international markets.
LDC is backing the existing management team, led by CEO Jeroen van den Berge and Director Tim Lacey, to continue its acquisitive growth strategy, having already made four acquisitions in the last four years. The company is looking to acquire complementary businesses that expand its range of specialist products and services and enhance its international footprint, particularly in Europe. IWS Group will also continue to invest in organic new product development, building on the strength and success of its innovative product brand portfolio, which includes racksack®, a market-leading range of space-saving waste sacks which gives businesses a simple and cost-effective solution to segregate waste and Rack Armour®, the original pallet racking upright protection guard.
The investment was led by LDC’s team in the West Midlands, including Investment Director Matt Newbold, Partner and Head of the West Midlands Chris Handy and Investment Director Karen Mann.
Jeroen van den Berge, CEO and co-founder of IWS Group, said: “Safety, efficiency and sustainability have never been more important to our customers. We have grown significantly by bringing businesses into the Group that help us to build on our credentials as a full-service provider to industrial workplaces.”
LDC is the perfect partner to help us accelerate this strategy while remaining in the driving seat of the business. Matt, Chris and Karen at LDC have years of experience helping management teams like us to expand through acquisition. We are looking forward to welcoming more businesses into the IWS family with LDC’s support.”
Matt Newbold, Investment Director at LDC in the Midlands, said: “The IWS Group is a market leading provider of through-life services to the growing and evolving industrial workplace market, supporting their customers with solutions focused on safety and efficiency. The continued strength of the UK and European logistics & warehousing sector is a strong market driver, with operators increasingly focused on bespoke-designed, energy efficient solutions to meet the long-term structural growth of this market, which IWS is well-placed to support.
“We’re excited to support the team at IWS Group to pursue their organic, M&A and international growth plans.”
LDC is currently supporting more than two thirds of its portfolio to expand through acquisition. Over the past two years it has provided funding and expertise to help its portfolio firms complete more than 100 acquisitions. The firm also has extensive experience supporting industrials businesses to achieve successful acquisitive growth strategies, including Kee Safety, Stuart Turner and ADEY.
LDC recently announced that it has extended its partnership with The Prince’s Trust to support the next generation of entrepreneurs. The five-year partnership will help up to 10,000 young people across the UK to start, sustain and grow their own businesses.
Newco was provided with acquisition facilities by HSBC UK, Leveraged Finance and HSBC Asset Management, Direct Lending and was advised by Eversheds Sutherland, FRP Corporate Finance (Debt Advisory), EY, Strategy&, Interpath, and KPMG.
IWS Group was advised by Rothschild & Co Arrowpoint Advisory and Addleshaw Goddard, with vendor due diligence services provided by CIL and Mazars.