LDC acquires minority stake in Littlefish

Kenny Wastell
02 April 2019

Tweet
Facebook
LinkedIn
Google plus
Send to

LDC has acquired a minority stake in UK-based IT consultancy Littlefish.

The GP has committed to providing follow-on funding to the company to support its acquisitive growth strategy. Littlefish will also invest in product development, with a particular focus on its cybersecurity services.

Unquote has unearthed publicly available documents that reveal a new holding company called LF (Holdco) was launched in February this year. The documents name Littlefish CEO Steve Robinson and services director Richard Roome as officers.

Littlefish's senior management team, who acquired the business in 2010, will retain a majority stake in the business following the deal.

According to a statement issued by LDC, Littlefish has averaged annual revenue grown of more than 40% "in recent years" and is projecting a turnover of £18m in its current financial year.

Debt
HSBC provided a debt package to support the transaction.

Company
Nottingham-headquartered Littlefish provides IT consultancy to the public and private sectors, with a focus on cloud and cybersecurity services. Its clients include Blackstone Property Management, Farrow & Ball, Studio Canal, PDSA, NSK and Macquarie Energy. The business has additional offices in London and Greater Manchester, and a total headcount of around 200.

People
LDC – David Bains, John Green (investment directors).
Littlefish – Graham Gilbert (chairperson); Steve Robinson (CEO); Richard Roome (services director).

Advisers
Equity – Gateley (legal); BDO (tax); RSM (financial due diligence); Armstrong (commercial due diligence); Silxo (IT due diligence).
Company – Clearwater International (corporate finance); Browne Jacobson (legal); KPMG (tax).