PARIS: Antin Infrastructure Partners (Paris:ANTIN) has signed a binding agreement to acquire Aquavista Watersides & Marinas, the UK’s largest marina infrastructure provider.
Founded in 2003 and based in Nottingham, Aquavista is the UK’s leading marina owner and operator, with 32 inland and coastal marinas offering over 5,300 berths and marine services across the country.
The transaction marks a successful exit for leading private equity investor LDC following a seven-year partnership during which the company nearly tripled revenue and doubled the size of its marina portfolio through a series of strategic acquisitions. This includes the transformational acquisition of Castle Marinas in 2021.
Building on this fast growth, Aquavista is ideally positioned to be the consolidator of the fragmented UK market, capitalising on a strong track record of organic growth complemented by successful acquisitions. The company also benefits from favourable underlying trends: UK boat ownership has been growing steadily, leading to rising storage needs, and growing demand for residential berths has supported high occupancy rates, low churn and resilient revenues.
Antin’s Mid Cap Fund I will be investing in Aquavista alongside CEO Steve de Polo and other members of the management team.
Upon closing, this investment will be the sixth by Antin’s €2.2 billion Mid Cap Fund I. Antin’s mid cap strategy focuses on smaller and medium-sized investments in established infrastructure companies in Europe and North America across the energy and environment, digital, transport and social sectors.
Simon Soder and Assia Belkahia, respectively Senior Partner and Partner at Antin Infrastructure Partners, declared: “Aquavista has all the characteristics we look for in our mid cap strategy, notably high barriers to entry and strong resiliency, and benefits from supportive long-term tailwinds. The company has a clear and ambitious plan to scale up its already leading presence in an attractive market segment, and we look forward to working with Aquavista’s management and team to support the company’s continued growth in marina infrastructure.”
Steve de Polo, CEO of Aquavista, commented: “LDC has been an invaluable partner and the scale we’ve achieved together has enabled us to significantly enhance our services putting us in an incredibly strong position for future growth. We are delighted to partner with Antin to build on the strong foundations developed with LDC’s support and accelerate our growth. We see many expansion opportunities ahead, and Antin is the right partner to help us consolidate our leadership and deliver our proposition of quality facilities and services to an ever-greater number of customers who share our vision of Freedom and Togetherness.”
David Bains, Partner and Head of the East Midlands and East of England at LDC, added: “Our seven-year partnership has established Aquavista as a market leader through organic and acquisitive growth, including the strategic acquisition of Castle Marinas, which we supported with significant follow-on funding. It has been a privilege to support this locally headquartered business to become a national success story, and we wish the very best to Steve and his team on the next stage of their journey.”