Give us a brief overview of private equity
Private equity houses can help business leaders fund a change of ownership, expansion plans or acquisitions, all while enabling them to stay in control of their business.
As the UK’s leading mid-market private equity house, LDC’s investment strategy focuses on backing ambitious management teams who can demonstrate a strong track record, and a clear vision and strategy for the future of the business. We pride ourselves on taking a supportive and long-term view, and commit to investing throughout the lifetime of our partnerships. Whether it’s about making acquisitions, launching new products, building new manufacturing facilities, breaking into new sectors or expanding overseas; LDC helps business leaders to achieve their ambitions and build better businesses.
How can private equity support local tech businesses?
Through their capital and expertise, the support of an experienced private equity partner can give management teams the confidence to make bold decisions, which will help them to scale operations quickly and create a stronger business.
LDC’s partnership with Newcastle-based developer of transport management software Mandata is a great example. We backed the business in 2018 to support the management team to invest further in developing its products and services and to explore complementary acquisitions. In the past two years alone, Mandata has completed two acquisitions which have helped it to expand its customer base and breadth of digital services. Mandata now offers the best integrated transport technology in the sector.
What opportunities are available to tech businesses in the North East?
The North East is rapidly becoming a hub for fast-growing technology businesses. It’s creating a number of new opportunities, whether that be for attracting talent, securing an investment partner or knowledge sharing with other local businesses. As tech businesses in the North East continue to thrive, we can only see these opportunities increasing.
LDC is committed to helping local North East tech businesses to achieve their growth plans. Our experience in the sector is unrivalled, and we have supported more than 130 tech, media and telecommunications businesses with £1.3billion capital nationally to date, backing 19 management teams over the last three years alone. We’re also aiming to invest £1.2billion in high-growth businesses nationally over the next three years and want the tech sector to form a significant part of this commitment.
