Network Plus acquired by Omers

OMERS Private Equity agreed on 11 July 2022 to acquire Network Plus from Livingbridge and the management shareholders, at an enterprise value of £500M–1.5bn representing an EV/EBITDA multiple of 10x–18x on the twelve months to June. Joint chief executives Dan Holland and Stuart Fraser continued to lead the business. Headquartered at Worsley in Greater Manchester, Network Plus installs, repairs and maintains the networks through which utilities reach their customers: water and wastewater pipes, gas mains, electricity cables and telecommunications ducts. Its crews excavate the road, carry out the work and reinstate the surface, responding to emergencies as well as delivering planned renewal programmes. It employs more than 5,000 people across 85 regional offices and depots, and recorded revenue of £150–250M with an operating profit of 25 million pounds for 2021. The work is awarded under long-term contracts by regulated utilities, among them United Utilities, National Grid and Cadent, whose own investment programmes are set by the regulator in five-year settlements. That arrangement gives the contractor visibility over the volume of work and insulates it from the construction cycle, since the pipes and cables must be maintained whatever the state of the economy. Demand has risen with the replacement of gas and water mains laid generations ago and with the reinforcement of electricity networks for electrified heating and transport, which requires excavating the same streets for a different purpose. Founded in 2000 as T&K Gallagher, the company had grown rapidly over the preceding five years on the strength of long-term contract awards, and OMERS intended to extend it into adjacent infrastructure activities through acquisitions.

The acquisition of Network Plus is part of the growth strategy of Omers, which already has several external growth operations under its belt, notably Amedes in 2021.