The British mid-market private equity firm LDC has invested in Sohonet, an international provider of connectivity, collaboration software, media services and network security for the media and entertainment industry. LDC’s investment will support the existing management team, led by CEO Chuck Parker, to further build on its international growth strategy and explore complementary acquisitions.
Founded in 1995, Sohonet provides more than 500 media companies and thousands of media professionals with a wide range of technically advanced and highly secure solutions. These are designed to help media professionals collaborate on projects with their internationally distributed teams to create the magic that appears on our screens for feature films, TV shows and advertising.
The business has a global presence across Europe, North America and Australasia, including locations in London, Los Angeles, New York and Sydney. It employs more than 120 people and has grown revenues by 30 per cent in the last three years.
The business operates in a market that is fueled by the growth of leading on-demand platforms like Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime, and the rising demand for highly secure technological solutions. LDC will support Sohonet to build out its leading products and services, explore new markets and complementary acquisitions.
Last year, Sohonet acquired Exchange Communications to expand its on-set offering to content makers. In response to changing working practices, the business has also been focused on the rapid expansion of its in-house ClearView suite of developed remote collaboration tools.
The investment was led by LDC’s Dewi Hughes, Steve Aston, James Garland and Oliver Schofield. Dewi and Steve will join the board alongside Tim Weller as non-executive chairman, bringing a wealth of technology, production and post-production experience in the international media industry.
Parker said, “We are very pleased with the growth of the business over the past six years and are proud of the brand and products we have developed. The migration of post services to the cloud, the rise of virtual production, and the explosion of remote collaboration has made our capabilities more relevant than ever, as storytellers everywhere find themselves in the golden age of content creation.
LDC has a proven track record of backing growing TMT business and supporting ambitious acquisitive growth strategies. We are really excited to work closely with the team at LDC to further enhance our market leading products and services.”
Hughes added, “Chuck and his ambitious team came to LDC with a clearly mapped out strategy to continue to grow the business in a rapidly evolving market environment. We are therefore delighted to be investing in such a well-established, branded innovator and to support Sohonet in the next chapter of their journey.”
Sohonet www.sohonet.com