Safe Speed Forums

Speed Check Services clocks up £9m from Lloyds’ PE arm
01 Mar 2010.
LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group, has invested £9m (€9.9m) in growth capital in Speed Check Services, a UK supplier of traffic management solutions.

The company’s average speed camera systems have been used in almost 250 locations by the Highways Agency and local authorities to improve safety and driver behaviour on motorways during maintenance works and along routes with a collision history.

SCS’s wirelessly connected digital cameras use Automatic Number Plate Recognition technology to measure average speed between defined entry and exit points, with data being stored in a repository for retrieval by the relevant police authority.

As well as LDC’s equity investment, a package of senior debt funding was also provided by HSBC Leveraged Finance to support the company’s expansion and its new product development programme.

SCS now expects to double its £12.2m (€13.4m) annual sales over the next five years as a growing number of authorities switch from fixed to average speed cameras.

Ian Podmore, investment director at LDC, said, “In SCS, we’re backing a fast-growing business with a high-calibre management team and an unrivalled reputation for best in breed technology. The strength of its expertise and customer base provides an excellent opportunity to develop its products and make a significant contribution to the government’s objectives in improving road safety as well as potential environmental benefits.”

LDC has been ranked as one of the most successful mid-market private equity firms in the UK at growing its companies. Ten of the firm’s portfolio companies made a league table of 100 mid-market private equity-backed companies in Britain with the fastest rate of growth, according to results compiled by Deloitte and the Sunday Times and released last month.
Copyright © 2010 AltAssets