Newnet
Date of Publication:
31st October 2011
Environmental-focused private equity firm Ambienta SGR has invested €16m in water treatment company Amplio Filtration Group.
The firm made the investment through its Ambienta I fund, becoming a minority shareholder in Amplio Filtration Group. Ambienta I was launched in 2008, and has €217.5m of committed capital.
Amplio Filtration is forecasting revenues of €35m expected for 2011, having recorded €22m in 2010 and €14m in 2009. To date, the company has acquired four companies across three geographies since it was founded by holding company Amplio Group in H2 2009, with the aim of consolidating the fragmented water treatment and filtration process sector.
According to the company, Ambienta‟s investment will help it to expand the business internationally and achieve its aims of growing into a €100m revenue water management company by 2014.
The company‟s strategy is to cross-sell technologies and expertise across geographies in order to strengthen growth and deliver an enlarged global footprint. US-based water treatment company Envirogen Technology was the first company to be incorporated, followed by UK-based Puresep Filtration Technologies and Environmental Water Systems, and most recently Italy-based Fluxa Filtri.
Amplio Filtration‟s acquisition pipeline continues to be in niche markets, the company said, including the decontamination of selenium in wastewater from mining, the removal of nitrates from groundwater, systems used in the food and beverage, healthcare and oil and gas.
Mauro Roversi, partner at Ambienta SGR, said, „Over the last three years we have looked at a number of investment opportunities in the sector without finding the right balance of leadership capability, strategic focus and geographic mix. Amplio Filtration offers all of these characteristics. Over the next three years, Ambienta will work with management on identifying and acquiring complementary businesses with the objective of creating an important player on the market.‟
Andrea Davi, head of Amplio Filtration, said, „We are delighted to announce this support and financial backing from such a strong partner in the private equity sector investing in the environmental sector. This agreement with Ambienta further strengthens Amplio Filtration‟s position in the attractive global water market, which is set to grow by a further six to seven per cent this year to $600bn. It allows us to accelerate Amplio Filtration‟s growth via acquisition and organically through cross-selling our technologies and expertise across the business. Additionally, we now have access to the cutting-edge Italian water filtration market and we are confident that we can continue to expand Amplio Filtration‟s European and US footprint and achieve revenues of €100m by 2014.‟