LDC invests in Aker

Katharine Hidalgo
21 July 2020

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LDC has invested in enterprise data publisher Aker Systems, taking a minority stake.

LDC is backing the company's existing management team led by CEO Darren Thomas, CFO Richard Hodsden, commercial director Adam Crawford and founding director Adam Fawsitt.

Tom Burnet, currently a non-executive director for BMO Private Equity Trust, will join Aker as non-executive chairman, while David Capewell will continue as a strategic adviser.

As part of the transaction, LDC investment professionals Lawrence Dean and Chris Baker will join the board as non-executive directors.

The investment marks the third deal in the last four months completed by LDC's team covering the south of England, following its investment in James and James Fulfilment and Babble's acquisition of Lake Technologies. The total aggregate enterprise value of these deals is more than £60m, according to a statement.

Company
Aker was founded in 2016 and provides secure enterprise data platforms to large organisations. Based in Bicester, the business designs, builds and operates secure public cloud data environments for large private and public sector clients.

People
LDC – Chris Baker (investment director); Lawrence Dean (head of LDC in the south).

Advisers
Equity – Gateley (legal); HMT (financial due diligence); ITC Secure (IT due diligence); CIL (commercial due diligence); EY (financial due diligence, tax); KPMG (financial due diligence, tax); DC Advisory (corporate finance).
Company – Grant Thornton (corporate finance); Birketts (legal).