PRIVATE EQUITY INSIGHTS
Four ways private equity helps you stay in control
1 Jun 2022
You’ve spent years building your business from the ground up – it’s your baby. You know you need outside investment to accelerate your business expansion plans and take you to the next level – but understandably you’re worried about losing control.
One of the most common concerns raised by business owners interested in private equity investment is whether they’ll no longer be in control of their company. Now, I can’t speak for other top private equity firms, but at LDC we invest in people, not businesses. You’re the reason your business is growing, you’re the best person to take it forward.
Private equity partners like LDC simply provide you with the business funding and support your growth strategies to achieve your dreams. Here are four ways that private equity can help you grow your business and remain in control.
1. Choose the level of investment
The perception can be that private equity firms are only interested in majority shareholdings where they call all the shots. Nothing could be further from the truth.
LDC provides flexible capital as either minority or majority shareholders, whatever you need to deliver your key objectives. For example, we invested £22m for a minority stake in iconic fashion brand Joules in 2013 – helping Tom Joule implement his strategic plan and grow revenues by 50% in two years, ahead of a successful lPO.
2. Work with a team you can trust
When you’re meeting different private equity investors, the most important consideration is not the facts and figures, but the people. By starting a relationship with a team you can trust, you’ll be in a much better position to grow your business.
Over 650 management teams have trusted LDC to help make their dreams a reality since 1981. In our experience, building a strong relationship with management teams is the only way to succeed.
3. Control the speed of growth
It’s your business – you should be in charge of how quickly you want to grow. Many management teams choose to map out a slow and steady rate of growth, especially if it’s their first foray into private equity.
Others are more ambitious. We worked in partnership with Away Resorts CEO and Founder Carl Castledine, investing £18.5m to help him make three acquisitions in three years and develop the company’s existing sites.
Our team can help you work out what sustainable growth looks like for your business, and back you every step of the way.
4. Identify areas of business improvement
Every business leader has areas of their business they’d like to improve – if only there was the time and money to do so. One of the advantages of partnering with a private equity firm is the expertise they can provide, alongside the business funding.
LDC’s team of Value Creation Partners (VCP) can offer you support on whatever operational improvements you want to make – whether that’s IT, sales and marketing, cash collections or working capital. You lead the way – and we’ll be right beside you, providing the support and guidance your business needs to grow.
If you’d like to discuss how to grow your business while staying in control, get in touch.
Would a private equity partner interfere? Would we lose control of the business? But those worries were unfounded. The LDC team trusts us to get on with things. They give us objective insights without being overpowering. It is a true partnership.”
We are the UK’s leading private equity firm for mid-sized businesses
Part of Lloyds Banking Group, our approach to private equity partnership is about helping management teams to grow their businesses, in their way.
We offer strategic support, challenge when necessary and provide flexible growth capital as either minority or majority shareholders.
- WE UNDERSTAND YOUR SECTOR - Over the last 40 years, we have build up a breadth of experience across almost all sectors of the UK economy.
- WE ARE WHERE YOU ARE - Our teams live and work right across the UK. By combining local relationships with national scale, we’re able to build trusted relationships from day one.
- WE TAKE RESPONSIBILITY SERIOUSLY - We’re proud to have been selected by Real Deals, the independent voice of European private equity, as one of its Future 40 ESG innovators.
- WE CREATE VALUE TOGETHER - By working together with management teams, we’ve helped portfolio companies to create more than £250m in shareholder value over the last three years.