Leading mid-market private equity firm LDC has made a significant minority investment in international warehouse safety, impact protection and storage equipment provider, IWS Group, to support a continued buy and build strategy.
IWS Group provides essential products and services to the global warehousing, logistics and material handling sectors. Through its growing family of companies, IWS Group provides its customers with a one-stop solution to make their sites safer, more efficient and environmentally sustainable.
The Group has a global customer base across multiple channels including operators, contractors, system integrators and resellers.
In the UK alone, the number of business premises used for transport, logistics and warehousing has almost doubled in the last decade(1). With the on-going rise of e-commerce, the requirement for warehousing solutions is set to continue to grow in the UK and across international markets.
LDC is backing the existing management team, led by CEO Jeroen van den Berge and Director Tim Lacey, to continue its acquisitive growth strategy, having already made four acquisitions in the last four years. The company is looking to acquire complementary businesses that expand its range of specialist products and services and enhance its international footprint, particularly in Europe. IWS Group will also continue to invest in organic new product development, building on the strength and success of its innovative product brand portfolio, which includes racksack®, a market-leading range of space-saving waste sacks which gives businesses a simple and cost-effective solution to segregate waste and Rack Armour®, the original pallet racking upright protection guard.
The investment was led by LDC’s team in the West Midlands, including Investment Director Matt Newbold, Partner and Head of the West Midlands Chris Handy and Investment Director Karen Mann.
Jeroen van den Berge, CEO and co-founder of IWS Group, said: “Safety, efficiency and sustainability have never been more important to our customers. We have grown significantly by bringing businesses into the Group that help us to build on our credentials as a full-service provider to industrial workplaces.”
