Waterford's Suir Engineering acquired in deal worth up to €80m 

Engineering services firm employs 1,300 people

Suir Engineering in Waterford carries out in the region of €300m in project work annually.

Waterford company Suir Engineering is to be acquired by London private equity group Duke Street as it aims to expand its services.

The company said the transaction includes investment by the senior management team and operations will continue as normal from its main base in Waterford and its other offices in Dublin, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Frankfurt.

According to industry sources and based on similar acquisitions in recent months, the deal is understood to be worth in the region of €80m.

Suir employs 1,300 people and was a jointly owned subsidiary of Dalkia and EDF Energy. The company has an annual turnover of approximately €300m and operates across a range of sectors including pharma, energy & utilities, food & beverage and data centres.

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

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," he said.

"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.”

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.

“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.”