LONDON — LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group, has taken a minority stake in financial, corporate communications, public affairs and campaigning specialist Headland.

The size of the investment is unknown, but in a statement Headland said it would support Headland’s management team, led by Chris Salt and Dan Mines, to accelerate its growth and fuel expansion plans, and enable the firm to “further broaden and deepen its consultancy capabilities”.

Headland increased revenues by 20% in 2020 and now employs 117 people, with clients including Accenture, ASOS, Danone, eBay, Just Eat, PepsiCo, Pret, Saga, Three UK, TikTok, UBS and Watches of Switzerland.

Managing partner Mines said: “We are proud of the way in which Headland’s unique client service model has made such an impact in recent years. Our sustained performance and growing reputation have enabled us to build a superb platform, which will continue to allow us to deliver great work for clients. With LDC as our investment partner, today marks the start of a new, exciting adventure for our agency.”

Headland CEO Salt added: “This is a pivotal moment in Headland’s development. We have had an incredible nine years, working with fantastic clients and attracting great people to Headland. We now welcome LDC as a partner with the right experience and expertise to support our future development. We see amazing possibilities ahead for our clients and our team. We want to continue to advise on interesting and challenging mandates, continue to hire the best people, continue to grow and continue to love what we do.”

Other LDC investments in the communications industry include buying a stake in Blue Rubicon (now Teneo) in 2012, and acquiring majority ownership of Instinctif and digital marketing group MSQ in 2019.

LDC director David Andrews said: “The team at Headland has made a remarkable impact upon the communications market during the last few years. We are backing the management team’s vision and are excited at the opportunity to support them on the next stage of their journey.”