Midlands manufacturers are set to be the main beneficiaries of a new £200 million investment pot being managed out of Birmingham.
LDC is looking to invest the money in specialist engineering and manufacturing businesses and while it is aimed at businesses across the UK, the focus will be on firms in the manufacturing heartland of the Midlands.
The initiative will be led out of LDC’s Birmingham office by investment directors Steve Aston and Rob Schofield.
Both have experience of working with companies in these sectors.
Martin Draper, managing director LDC Midlands, said: “LDC is committed to supporting the growth of high quality manufacturing and specialist engineering businesses.
“Many UK businesses have developed best in class manufacturing technology and capability and are extremely well placed to deliver strong and sustainable growth across both the established and emerging growth economies.
“By pledging £200m of capital and a dedicated and experienced team over the next three years to this important sector, LDC is demonstrating a clear commitment to, and confidence in, UK manufacturing.”
Despite the downturn, specialist engineering and manufacturing has remained one of the UK’s most dynamic industry sectors, many companies having benefited from demand from emerging economies.
The £200m commitment will focus on mid-market UK businesses in the £10million to £150m enterprise value range and, typically those with specialist manufacturing capability in niche sectors such as aerospace and defence, oil and gas, or power generation.
The initiative will also be supported by LDC’s Asian operation, which is based in Hong Kong.
Darryl Eales, chief executive of LDC, said that manufacturing remained a key sector for the company. “Manufacturing is very much part of LDC’s heritage and we have consistently invested in the sector even when it became less fashionable to do so.
"Although LDC is a generalist private equity investor, the specialist engineering and manufacturing arena has long been a core area for our investment. This is a national initiative for LDC, which will be led out of the Midlands by a team with considerable investment experience in this sector.
“We are looking to partner with high quality management teams looking to private equity as a source of funding to facilitate the expansion of their businesses into new markets and territories.”
