H&MV Engineering acquired by Exponent Private Equity & Apollo Global Management

Exponent closed a single-asset continuation vehicle of approximately 750 million euros on 11 August 2026 to extend its ownership of H&MV Engineering, at an enterprise value of €1–10bn. The vehicle, alongside Exponent Fund V, acquired the company from Exponent Fund IV and certain minority investors, among them LGT Capital Partners and Hamilton Lane. Apollo S3, Pantheon and SQ Capital led a consortium of existing and new institutional investors, and the vehicle was oversubscribed. Completion was expected in September 2026, subject to regulatory approvals. The valuation represented close to twelve times the level at which Exponent acquired the business in 2022, and almost double the 750 million euros at which the minority investors entered two years later. H&MV designs, builds and energises the high-voltage infrastructure through which electricity reaches a site: substations, switchgear and the connections to the transmission network. Its customers are hyperscale technology companies, colocation operators, utilities, battery storage developers and renewable energy producers. It generated revenue of €1–10bn, employed more than 1,900 people across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the United States and Asia, operated from 20 offices and held more than 24 gigawatts of projects in design and construction. Since 2022 the company had completed three acquisitions and entered North America through the purchase of Cooke Power Services, a power infrastructure specialist based in Amarillo, Texas, with a Dallas office planned as its American headquarters. The continuation structure allowed Exponent to realise part of its position and return capital to the investors in its fourth fund while retaining the asset, and brought new capital for the company’s expansion in the United States, recruitment across its operations, engineering capabilities and further acquisitions. Lazard acted as financial adviser to Exponent and H&MV, with Debevoise & Plimpton as legal counsel to Exponent, Macfarlanes to Exponent and H&MV, and Squire Patton Boggs to the management team.