Souter Investments, the private equity focussed family investment office, has marked the start of 2023 with two new investments.
Both investments are in the industrials sector and focus on providing critical engineering solutions and infrastructure upgrades across various industries. This is an exciting time to be partnering for a fourth time with each of Duke Street and Buckthorn Partners given the attractive sector tailwinds and growth prospects for both companies.
Acquisition of innovative mechanical, electrical engineering firm Suir Engineering
Suir Engineering is a leading provider of innovative mechanical, electrical and instrumentation engineering solutions for clients. An increasingly global business, Suir operates in Ireland, the UK, Europe and beyond, serving the data centre, pharmaceutical, and electrical power and renewable sectors.
The business was acquired from EDF Energy Services, a joint venture between the French energy group EDF and Dalkia. The deal is led by Duke Street, the leading European private equity firm, with whom Souter has invested in several deals across the healthcare and industrial sectors.
Maurice Shamash, Investment Director at Souter Investments commented, “We are delighted to be working with Duke Street again following our investment in the market leading Ardent Hire and the successful realised investments in Baywater Healthcare and Voyage Care. We believe Suir is a high-quality business, operating in attractive and fast-growing end markets supporting blue chip clients with specialist solutions. We look forward to supporting Duke Street and Suir’s management team as they accelerate the business’s growth in Europe and beyond.”
For more information, please see the official press release or visit Suir’s website at www.suireng.ie.
Carve-out of Amey from Ferrovial S.A.
Souter has backed Buckthorn Partners, a UK private equity investor, in its acquisition of Amey. Buckthorn will partner with One Equity Partners on this investment, who bring a wealth of expertise across the industrial, healthcare, and technology sectors in North America and Europe.
Amey is one of the UK’s leading infrastructure services and engineering consulting company. A strategic supplier to the UK Government, the Company operates across public sector infrastructure maintenance, upgrades, and operations, addressing a total spend pool of approximately £11 billion per annum, underpinned by the government’s infrastructure investment plan and supported by the Net Zero Strategy.
Andy Milner will return as the CEO, having previously left in 2019, and lead the management team alongside Buckthorn to build on the capability in managing critical infrastructure as well as Amey’s positive work in social value and sustainability. The new ownership is expected to bring stability, investment and expertise to grow and develop the company. Buckthorn, whom we have backed in three previous investments, have a strong track record of growing businesses which is why we are excited to be a part of this story and the future of the business.
Please refer to the official press release for more details.
For more information visit Amey at www.amey.co.uk.
These transactions continue Souter Investments’ approach of investing through the cycle across a variety of sectors, and closely follow the recent M&A activity at Refined Brands, which added the Frugi, Turtle Doves and Kettlewell Colours brands to its ethically sourced, natural and sustainable focussed group of British clothing businesses.
About Souter Investments
Souter Investments is one of the UK’s leading family investment offices specialising in private equity. Founded in 2006, Souter has invested over £500m in more than seventy unquoted companies. The office currently has significant investments in over thirty-five businesses, acting either as the lead investor or as a partner for other financial sponsors.
For more information, please visit www.souterinvestments.com.