News
Strong six months for LDC’s South West and Wales team
29 Sep 2022
The South West and Wales team of LDC, the UK’s leading mid-market private equity firm, has enjoyed another stellar six-month period. The team has completed three transactions with a combined enterprise value of over £175m, supported its portfolio to make significant steps to deliver their growth plans and launched its own new charity initiatives.
The team’s investments include independent artisan cake manufacturer Cakesmiths. LDC partnered with the management team, led by CEO Chris Ormrod and Managing Director Simon Harris, to support the next stage of the Bristol-based business’ growth journey, including investment in its digital platform, product development and team expansion plans.
In addition, the LDC team led an £18m minority investment in TMC Pharma Services, a global pharmaceutical development organisation that specialises in rare diseases and oncology. LDC is now working closely with TMC’s Co-Founder and CEO Julie Matthews and COO Carol Woodward, to help continue the business’ international expansion plans and double headcount.
LDC also exited its investment in the world’s largest producer of natural history programmes, Bristol-based Plimsoll Productions (Plimsoll) to ITV plc. During its three-year partnership with LDC, the BAFTA, EMMY and Academy award-winning team at Plimsoll invested in the business’ natural history and documentary programming, embarked on its first co-production and completed a strategic acquisition.
LDC’s activity is set to continue through its pledge to invest in 100 medium-sized businesses nationally over the next five years.
Since the start of the year, the LDC team – led by Dewi Hughes, LDC Partner and Head of South West and Wales – has worked closely with its portfolio firms to support their growth plans. Bristol-based digital media agency Hybrid recently launched its first office in the US and LDC has supported leisure business Zip World to invest in its sites and launch a number of new attractions, the latest being Underground Golf. LDC-backed telecoms provider Onecom recently expanded into the South West following its acquisition of Bristol-headquartered Solution IP Communications, which marked Onecom’s second acquisition of 2022.
The turbulence of the economic environment is presenting new challenges to business leaders across the South West and Wales. However, I am continually impressed by the ambition and quality of the management teams I meet. Their tenacity to succeed and grow remains as strong as ever."
LDC is also increasing its support for local causes such as The Bristol Sport Foundation, Bristol Children’s Hospital official charity The Grand Appeal and the local branch of The Prince’s Trust. Through its participation and sponsorship of Break the Cycle – Bristol Sport Foundation and Bristol Bears Community Foundation’s largest annual fundraiser – the team played their part in helping the initiative to raise more than £55,000 over the last two years. They were also a proud sponsor of Bristol Children’s Hospital’s ‘Make a Move!’ sports day which provided children diagnosed with cancer or a blood condition a fun day of sporting activities.
In partnership with The Prince’s Trust, LDC is helping the next generation of entrepreneurs based in the South West – such as the founder of Bristol-based Two Dogs & Co. In July, LDC announced it had more than doubled its nationwide commitment to The Prince’s Trust to support 10,000 young people to start, sustain and grow their own business.
Dewi Hughes, Partner and Head of South West and Wales, LDC, said: “The turbulence of the economic environment is presenting new challenges to business leaders across the South West and Wales. However, I am continually impressed by the ambition and quality of the management teams I meet. Their tenacity to succeed and grow remains as strong as ever.
“Having successfully supported businesses to deliver growth plans through every stage of the cycle, our commitment to helping companies to expand and develop remains unchanged. We are actively seeking new investment opportunities to support ambitious management teams realise their objectives and navigate the bumps ahead.”