OCU Group Ltd has today confirmed completion of its acquisition of the Northavon Group of companies, which includes Northavon Group Ltd, Northavon Holdings Ltd, Northavon Water Services Ltd, Hydrovein Ltd, and Multivein Ltd, along with their respective subsidiaries.
The acquisition was first announced on 24th of April 2023, but was subject to regulatory clearance, which has now been received.
Commenting on the acquisition, Michael Hughes, Chief Executive Officer of OCU, said:
“Completing this acquisition is a milestone moment for us, and a significant step in our long-term growth strategy to expand our services within the water and wastewater sector.
“Since beginning initial conversations with Northavon it has been evident that we share a similar vision and understanding, with the acquisition enabling us to scale and help many more clients.”
Northavon provides a broad range of services to its clients across South England and South Wales, which include South West Water, Thames Water, Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water (Welsh Water), local authorities, transport infrastructure clients, and a number of blue chip housing development companies.
Northavon’s work includes mechanical, electrical, instrumentation and civils design, construction and installation of clean and wastewater treatment facilities and sewage pumping stations, together with maintenance services, highways and developer services works.
Established in 2016 by brothers Mark and David Matthews, Northavon has a workforce of over 350 employees and contractors and delivered revenues of c£50 million in the financial year to 31st October 2022.
OCU is a Stockport-based energy and utilities specialist, that operates within regulated and non-regulated infrastructure markets, including electricity, power, rail, water, and telecoms. The acquisition marks OCU’s sixth and largest acquisition in the past 12 months.
Mike Clancy, Group Managing Director of Northavon said:
“On behalf of everyone at Northavon, we are excited by what the future holds as part of the OCU family.
“I look forward to merging our specialisms, sharing learnings, and using our joint expertise to solve challenges facing the industry.”
OCU’s deal with Northavon follows the acquisitions of Modus, a London-based multi-utility specialist, InICT, a Leeds-based fibre-optic specialist, Opals, a regional multi utilities hub, Andrews Associates, a Surrey-based power systems design and engineering service, and FKS, a Wigan-based telecom installation service.
As part of the acquisition arrangements, Northavon will become known as OCU Northavon.
In August 2022 OCU itself was acquired by Triton Partners, one of Europe’s leading investment firms. The company focuses on developing medium-sized companies with the potential to create sustainable, long-term value. Triton operates from 12 offices across the world with their current portfolio of companies having combined annual revenues of over €18 billion.
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