Investment type
- Management buyout
Headquartered in Cheshire, SRL is the leading manufacturer and Equipment-as-a-Service provider for temporary, portable and semi-permanent intelligent traffic lights and variable messaging signs (VMS). It offers mission critical assets from its nationwide network of 30 depots across the UK and Republic of Ireland.
SRL’s equipment is used in many of the UK’s key infrastructure projects, primarily supporting the traffic management industry and event companies. Think of any town centre and you’ll have seen the traffic lights, pedestrian systems and VMS signs that provide road users with information, directions and safety guidance.
Private equity partnership in action
In September 2019, we invested £24m to back the management buyout of the SRL business in the UK and ROI, as it embarked on the next phase of its growth strategy. The buyout was led by SRL’s existing CEO Richard Tredwin and his long-standing management team.
LDC’s support is enabling us to significantly invest in our products, technology and people, for the benefit of our customers and to unlock the full potential of our business.”
With our support, Richard and his team have delivered a multi-million-pound capital investment programme to accelerate growth and improve the technologies they offer to customers.
Building on a successful track record
During our two-year partnership, SRL increased its fleet from 7,500 to almost 13,000 systems, added four new depots to its network, opened a new innovation and technical centre of excellence, increased its manufacturing capability and moved to a new combined manufacturing base and Head Office.
The company also made a series of strategic hires, welcoming a new CFO, COO, CIO and product and technical teams to drive new product development and the rollout of new technologies.
SRL’s revenues have grown by 72 per cent, up from £18.4million in FY19 to £31.6million in the current financial year and headcount increased from 140 to 182.
Our partnership with LDC has not only helped us to bring on-board the best talent and grow our physical footprint, but it has turbocharged our ambition to become a market leader in smart traffic technology innovation. With their support, we are now leading the way in the development of intelligent transport systems and solutions.”
In December 2021, LDC exited its investment in SRL to 3i Infrastructure plc, having supported the business’ significant growth. LDC generated a 5.7x money multiple for LDC on its original investment and an internal rate of return of 124 per cent.