LDC invests in Idwal Marine Services

• LDC’s investment was led by Dewi Hughes, Oliver Schofield and James Garland from its Wales and South West team
• LDC’s investment will assist Idwal in developing its proprietary technology platform and expand its global service footprint
• LDC is the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group and is headquartered in London

LDC has secured significant investment in Idwal Marine Services, a provider of inspection services for the global commercial shipping sector. No financial details of the transaction were disclosed.

Idwal Marine is based in Cardiff, UK.

LDC’s investment will help Idwal’s management team to further develop the platform, data and service provision and expand its network of overseas offices, which already includes China, Greece and Japan, according to a release.

LDC’s investment was led by Dewi Hughes, Oliver Schofield and James Garland from its Wales and South West team. Hughes and Schofield will join the board, the release added.

“With the opportunity to further develop its technology platform and further penetrate overseas markets, they will be able to fulfil their ambition to make Idwal the global leader and the Idwal Grade the pre-eminent standard in the international commercial shipping market,” said Hughes, partner and head of LDC’s Southwest and Wales team.

Gehan Talwatte, a chairman of several private equity backed companies in the data services sector, has been appointed as non-executive chairman of Idwal.

Simon Morse, former CEO of Inchcape Shipping Services, and ex-president of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers has been appointed as non-executive director.

LDC is the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group and is headquartered in London. The firm has a UK-wide network of regional offices.

LDC was advised by KPMG (corporate finance), Blake Morgan (legals), OC&C (commercial due diligence), BDO (financial due diligence) and EY (tax).