Capital Economics is one of the leading independent macro-economic research companies in the world.

Investment type
  • Management buyout
Exit type
  • Private equity sale
Exit date

March 2018

Exit value

£95m

Status
Re-investment date

April 2018

The Team
LDC Team
Quote mark

LDC have professionalised things… Maybe we would have done a lot of this anyway, but it wouldn’t have come naturally to us.”

Roger Bootle, Chairman
Capital Economics

“We’ve brought in someone from outside – Bob Dowson (CEO), who manages much of the business day-to-day. We’ve introduced a new CRM system, we’ve moved buildings, we’ve opened two new overseas offices, we’ve introduced new products, we’ve rejigged the sales process, I could go on and on.”

Further growth

In March 2018, LDC exited its investment in Capital Economics in a sale to Phoenix Equity Partners, which acquired a controlling stake in the business.

Phoenix’s investment, which valued the business at circa £95m, was made alongside the existing management team and shareholders. The transaction provided a return for LDC of 2.5x money and an IRR of 43 per cent.

Only one month later, LDC completed a minority reinvestment in Capital Economics alongside Phoenix. This has allowed LDC to continue to support the management team on the next stage of the company’s growth journey.