News
LDC plans to increase investment after reaching £2bn milestone
12 Jan 2026
LDC, the leading private equity investor, has deployed more than £2bn of capital since 2020, after investing almost £250m in 2025.
To reach this major milestone, the firm completed transactions in almost every region and sector of the British economy in 2025, with more than half taking place in the fourth quarter of the year, signalling positive momentum and confidence returning in the year ahead.
LDC, which operates from 10 locations across the UK and benefits from committed and flexible funding as part of Lloyds Banking Group, plans to increase investment in 2026, underlining its ability and long-term commitment to invest throughout the cycle. LDC will also celebrate its 45th year of supporting small and medium-sized businesses.
LDC’s new investments in 2025 included Preston-based clinical trials specialist Panthera Biopartners, Birmingham-based commercial law firm Harper James, Leicestershire-based Bespoke Kitchen Foods, Exeter-based tech-enabled care products and services provider Taking Care and Cheshire-based digital mental health and wellbeing programme provider myHappymind. LDC also reinvested in IT managed services provider Aspire for a significant minority alongside new minority co-investor Federated Hermes to support the next phase of Aspire’s growth journey.
LDC supported the growth of its 90-strong portfolio during the year through 45 acquisitions to help them scale, including PDG Aviation Services’ acquisition of Team UAV, Bramble Foods’ acquisition of Whitakers Chocolates, Brighton-based 15below’s acquisition of Airport AI, and Talos360’s acquisition of global performance management software platform Appraisd.
Toby Rougier, Chief Executive Officer of LDC, said: “Last year, businesses again faced challenging market conditions and, in times like these, investment is more important than ever. We’ve continued to help our portfolio companies to grow and make new investments.
“Our unique funding model combined with our regional network, sector experience and talented team mean we’re able to provide a reliable and consistent source of funding and advice.”
We remain fully committed to supporting businesses in the year ahead and have plenty of appetite to increase our investment, providing the capital and expertise to help small and medium-sized businesses to scale.”
LDC had a successful year for exits, generating exit proceeds of more than £600m and an average money multiple return of 3.3x. The 11 companies exited in 2025 grew revenues by 155% on average and created 1,223 jobs during their investment partnerships with LDC.
Highlights include the exit and reinvestment in Sheffield-based UniHomes generating a return of 4.8x and the full exits of education marketing specialist Hybrid following four years of international expansion, eCommerce fulfilment provider J&J after revenue growth of 415%, digital advertising business Blis to T-Mobile at a value of $175m, premium milkshake brand Shaken Udder to Idilia following a 91% revenue increase and Iglu to Flight Centre Travel Group after ten years of support.
John Garner, Managing Partner at LDC, added: “We saw a marked improvement in activity in the second half of the year, especially Q4, and expect this momentum to build as we work through a growing pipeline of opportunities in 2026. There is pent-up demand from ambitious management teams who have been cautious about taking on investment but are now ready to act with the support of partners with the right experience.”
In 2025 LDC continued to give back via regional charities across the UK and through its long-standing partnership with The King’s Trust. The partnership has now helped more than 6,200 young people to sustain and grow their businesses through skills and funding, including 1,382 young entrepreneurs through the LDC-funded Business Advance.
Toby Rougier added: “Once again we were able to use our capital as a force for good through our partnerships, supporting the growth of our regional economies, the decarbonisation of our portfolio, helping young people to realise their ambitions through The King’s Trust and raising vital funds for dozens of charities across the UK.”
The firm also continued to recruit, making 12 new hires in 2025, including expanding its Portfolio and Value Creation teams which, alongside LDC’s investors, work with portfolio management teams to help them to improve operational performance.
LDC’s success in 2025 was recognised by 24 awards wins across the business, including HealthInvestor’s Private Equity Investor of the Year, The Tech Investor Award at the UK Tech Awards 2025 and its Top 50 Most Ambitious Business Leaders Programme won the Most Effective Integrated B2B Marketing Award at The Financial Services Forum Awards.