31 PRIVATE EQUITY FIRM
OF THE YEAR AWARD
SPONSORED BY LAMPORT BASSITT WINNER LDC
Above: Alastair Weinel, senior investment director, accepts the award on behalf of LDC
Right: Mark Durden-Smith (left) with the winning LDC team and Sean Kelly (right) on behalf of sponsor Lamport Bassitt
Mark Durden-Smith invited the gathered professional dealmakers to settle to hear details of the first award of the evening.
Ironically, the award sponsor – the highly- regarded south coast law firm Lamport Bassitt – was on the cusp of a deal itself, being set to become part of legal firm Pitmans based in Reading, London and now Southampton.
There were three shortlisted finalists for the title ’PE Firm of the Year’: Foresight Group, LDC and Panoramic Growth Equity.
Foresight is a PE house and a leading investor in energy, environmental and infrastructure projects. It has invested £7.5 million in Utility Funding, a Salisbury- based provider of both electricity and gas smart meters, which Foresight believes is in a high-growth market driven by government regulation.
LDC, the leading regional mid-market PE house, has had a record year in the south, in terms of both investments and profits. In 2013 the southern office completed its investment in the £20m The Training Room business, the biggest provider of personal trainer qualifications in the UK. It also realised a 2.4 times return on its investment in JCC Lighting.
Set up to provide growth equity for SMEs, Panoramic Growth Equity backs inspiring management teams including committing £1.8m in Andante Travels, the market leader in archaeological travel in the UK. The investment was the fifth from the Panoramic Enterprise Capital Fund, which was oversubscribed at £34m.
Details of the individual contenders were screened for an attentive audience, Afterwards, on behalf of the sponsors, Lamport Bassitt partner Sean Kelly came to the main stage to announce the category winner – LDC.
After the trophy presentation and photographs, investment director Alastair Weinel of LDC’s south of England team, based in Reading, revealed that his firm had now achieved a triple-title triumph this year.
LDC had not only been acclaimed as PE Firm of the Year in the Thames Valley Deals Awards in April, but had also gained a similar title in a South East area awards event in Crawley.
“We consider ourselves the pre-eminent team in the south, covering the whole of the region outside of London, and it’s great to be involved with companies such as The Training Room with its fantastic management team and huge potential, and deals such as the JCC exit.“
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – JULY/AUGUST 2014
www.businessmag.co.uk
“2013 was a great year for us, with our team of dealmakers investing more than £100m,“ said Weinel, although he considered the deals process “more complicated than it used to be; people are much more forensic about the way they look at things.
“We get great deal flow from the advisers here in the Solent. We try to get involved early and feel it’s important to meet as many people as we can, and not just be part of the deal process. We are a relationship based PE house and always get to know the management teams really well. It’s about personal relationships.“
Weinel’s view was echoed within LDC’s award nominations: “We have had a long and successful relationship with LDC, over which time our company has been transformed into a leader in our sector,“ said a board member of one supportive client. Other senior professionals highlighted LDC’s strategic input and its “desire to continue to provide investment into leading mid-market businesses in the local region.“
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