EQT and GIC purchase UK’s Calisen at £4bn valuation | USAEMALL.com

Stay informed with free updates

Simply sign up to the Private equity myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.

Private equity group EQT and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC have agreed to buy a majority stake in UK smart meter provider Calisen, valuing the group at about £4bn, as buyout firms step up their bets on the sector.

The investors will acquire the stake in Manchester-based Calisen from BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners, the alternative asset management arm of Goldman Sachs and Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth investor Mubadala, according to EQT and GIC.

Founded more than two decades ago, Calisen is one of Britain’s largest owners and managers of smart meters. It also installs electric vehicle charging units, solar and battery technology, and heat pumps.

The move is the latest in a string of acquisitions by private equity firms of companies that help consumers to monitor their energy use, marking increased investor appetite in companies benefiting from the transition to more sustainable power usage.

In recent months, GIC also partnered with the US private equity group TPG on a nearly €7bn deal to acquire the German metering company Techem from Switzerland’s Partners Group.

Other takeovers in the sector include KKR’s acquisition of the UK’s Smart Metering Systems in a £1.4bn deal agreed last December.

Manchester-based Calisen posted a £51.6mn annual pre-tax loss in 2023, from a £138.2mn profit the previous year, on a 25 per cent increase in revenue to £358.2mn. The group manages and owns 12mn smart meters, nearly half of those in the UK.

The group agreed to be taken private for £1.43bn in 2020, by a consortium of investors including BlackRock, less than a year after it listed as a FTSE 250 company in one of London’s biggest initial public offerings that year.

The consortium paid a more than 50 per cent premium to Calisen’s three-month average price, capping a disappointing year for public listings at a time of Brexit uncertainty.

At the time of the delisting, US buyout firm KKR owned the majority of Calisen’s shares, having previously acquired the company in 2016 for a reported value of about £1bn.

“If you think about the energy transition, it’s well known that a lot of investment is required to meet our objectives,” said Kunal Koya, partner at EQT, adding that it required “patient” capital.

“These businesses do well when backed by long-term owners who can invest over time and grow their asset bases.”

Sean Latus, chief executive of Calisen added: “EQT and GIC’s experience in the energy sector will be invaluable as we look to leverage our scale and customer relationships to significantly expand our smart meter portfolio and replicate our success in adjacent areas.”