Mid-market private equity firm LDC has sold its stake in Kylmar, a designer and manufacturer of sensor and optical surveillance systems for military and security applications.
The Andover-based company has been acquired for an undisclosed sum by General Dynamics UK.
The deal provides an attractive return for LDC, which took a significant minority stake in the business in April 2006.
Since then the business’ turnover has doubled and employee numbers have risen from 30 to 50.
Kevan Leggett, managing director of LDC in the South, says: “Kylmar is a perfect example of a private equity-backed UK manufacturing firm which has combined its technical capabilities and strong customer relationships with our funding and strategic input to create a highly attractive asset.
“We’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with management over the past four years to successfully generate scale in the business and this acquisition represents an excellent outcome for its employees and customers.”
Kylmar has been supplying electro-optic equipment and systems into the UK military intelligence and Special Forces for counter-terrorism applications for nearly two decades.
