Infracapital, the infrastructure equity investment arm of M&G Prudential, has agreed to acquire a controlling equity stake in UK Power Solutions (UKPS), a leading ‘last mile’ utility business, from individual shareholders including management.
UKPS designs and builds ‘last mile‘ electricity, gas and water networks, connecting end customers to the relevant upstream distribution utility‘s network. Its dedicated teams of experienced engineers manage projects from the initial customer inquiry, through to design, construction, energization and the final adoption of the network. Since 2007, UKPS has grown to become one of the UK’s leading multi-utility connections providers for new build residential, high rise, commercial and retail projects, with an order book in excess of 120k connections. The business has a particularly strong presence in the South and Midland regions of England.
The acquisition follows Infracapital‘s October 2018 investment in last-mile electricity, gas and water connections business, Energetics, which has a strong presence in Scotland and the North of England and an order book in excess of 200k connections. The two businesses will operate independently but alongside each other as part of the Last Mile Infrastructure Group owned by Infracapital.
The Last Mile Infrastructure Group is one of the UK’s largest Independent Network Owners, owning and operating in excess of 300k gas and electricity connections servicing residential and commercial customers. The management team has plans to significantly grow the business and UKPS is expected to make an important contribution.
Infracapital will take a 65% stake in UKPS, with management shareholders retaining the balance.
PwC Corporate Finance acted as financial adviser to Infracapital on the transaction.