LDC further expands East Midlands and East of England team with two new investors

Leading mid-market private equity firm LDC has grown its team in the East Midlands and East of England with the appointment of Simon Peacock as Investment Director and Mikayil Salahov as Investment Manager.

Simon joins LDC following more than 15 years at Alantra, an investment banking and asset management firm focusing on the mid-market. As a Partner there, he advised companies on both a regional and sector basis, including consumer, industrials and business services, to help ensure the smooth completion of M&A transactions. He also has extensive experience within the food industry, as Director of Food & Drink at Catalyst, prior to its acquisition by Alantra, following eight years as a Finance Manager at United Biscuits.

As an Investment Director, Simon will be responsible for identifying potential investment opportunities, leading transactions and supporting the management teams of LDC’s portfolio businesses as they pursue their growth ambitions.

Mikayil joins LDC as an Investment Manager from PwC’s Transaction Services practice in Reading, where he focused on large cap and mid-market transactions. His experience spans several sectors, including technology media and telecoms, business services and retail.

Simon and Mikayil are the second and third additions to LDC’s East Midlands and East of England team – led by Partner David Bains – during the last six months, following the appointment of Investment Manager Nicole Wong in April. All three are supporting LDC’s commitment to increase its activity and support of mid-market businesses across the region.

Simon and Mikayil’s arrivals comes during a busy year for the team, which covers major cities Derby, Nottingham, Leicester, Milton Keynes, Cambridge and Norwich, and surrounding areas. This includes LDC’s investments in Colchester-based premium milkshake brand Shaken Udder and global programmatic advertising company Blis, to support the next stage of their growth journeys, and its exits of Nottingham-based managed IT and cyber services provider Littlefish, and of Derbyshire-headquartered Forest Holidays following a successful 10-year partnership.

Outside of transactions, the team have also been busy donating items and volunteering their time to support food banks across the region, alongside other members of the local corporate finance community.

David Bains, Partner and Head of LDC in the East Midlands and East of England, commented: “Our East Midlands and East team has always been an important part of LDC investing more than £500m over a sustained period of time to help management teams grow their businesses. In a further sign of commitment to the region, we now have the largest team we’ve had here, and its collective enthusiasm, expertise and local insight will help us to support more ambitious mid-market business leaders than ever.”