UK private equity firm to acquire Waterford-based engineering business

A Waterford-based engineering firm is be acquired by one of Britain’s best known private equity groups.

It’s been announced that Suir Engineering, one of the country’s leading providers of mechanical, electrical and instrumentation engineering services, is to be acquired by private equity group Duke Street.

Suir, which employs 1,300 people and is headquartered in Waterford, was a jointly owned subsidiary of Dalkia and EDF Energy.

The company said the transaction, which includes investment by the senior management team, will enable it to enhance the services it offers to clients, while operations will continue as normal from its main base in Waterford and its other offices in Dublin, Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Frankfurt.

Suir, which has nearly four decades of engineering expertise in its core sectors of Pharma, Energy & Utilities, Food & Beverage and Data Centres, has an annual turnover of around €300m.

The completion of the transaction remains subject to obtaining applicable regulatory approvals.

Duke Street, one of Britain’s best known private equity groups, has a strong track record of investing in industrial service companies. Over the last 25 years it has invested over €2.5bn in more than 50 companies, achieving investment returns in excess of 25% over that period.

Paul Adams, Partner at Duke Street, said Suir’s reputation as a provider of innovative engineering solutions on projects across Europe was second to none.

“We are delighted to acquire Suir Engineering, a market-leading business that is a great fit for our investment program. The Duke Street team has previous successful experience in industrial services as well as Suir’s underlying sectors. The company has a highly skilled workforce, an extremely strong safety record and a healthy pipeline of projects across Europe in all of its highly attractive end-sectors. We have been impressed with Suir’s growth strategy and we look forward to actively supporting the existing management team in delivering their ambitious plans,” Mr Adams. 

Michael Kennedy, Managing Director, Suir Engineering, said he believed the partnership with Duke Street would be transformative for the company, enabling it to grow steadily while continuing to provide the best service possible to its Irish and international clients.

“We at Suir are looking forward to partnering with Duke Street who share our vision, values, and ambition. Together, we will accelerate Suir’s growth by investing in people and expanding the business proposition to include more international work in key client sectors such as technology, renewables, and life sciences. We believe this will consolidate our position as a leader in the provision of mechanical, electrical and instrumentation engineering services that are expertly delivered by our very experienced team,” Mr Kennedy said.