RSK Group has completed its strategic investment agreement, securing a £520 million capital injection to support the significant growth aspirations of the group.
In June, RSK and a consortium led by Searchlight Capital Partners, L.P., and Ares Management funds announced the £500 million preferred equity investment.
This latest announcement confirms completion of the investment and the details of the full consortium that, in addition to Searchlight and Ares, includes Penta Capital LLP, a UK private equity firm with a successful track record in backing management teams and their staff to build best-in-class, high quality businesses. BGF, a current shareholder in the group, has provided a further £20 million investment, increasing the equity package to £520 million.
The June announcement also advised that Ares had committed an incremental £300 million debt facility to further support RSK’s growth plans, bringing the total available debt facilities provided by Ares to £1.4 billion.
The company said the additional capital will support the ambitions articulated in RSK’s 2030 Global Growth Strategy, including organic growth initiatives and the continued execution of the company’s acquisition strategy – which has seen RSK successfully acquire over 100 businesses in the last five years, including its most recent acquisition of London-based property consultants eb7.
RSK founder and Chief Executive Officer Alan Ryder welcomed the completion of the investment agreement and the additional investment. He said:
“As we noted in June, this strategic partnership marks a pivotal moment for RSK as we take another step towards our long-term vision. By doing the right thing and ensuring RSK is a business that people want to be part of, we believe we can become the world’s largest and most trusted provider of sustainable solutions. With strong tailwinds in our primary end-markets, we’re excited to complete this transaction, so the business can focus on delivering this vision and take advantage of the growth opportunities available to us.
“We are delivering crucial environmental and engineering services to help government and business clients around the world achieve a more sustainable future and in approaching these projects, we are conscious of our unique ability to draw on consultancy, technical services and engineering skills across the water, energy, construction and infrastructure sectors. We believe this offering to be unmatched in the marketplace and it enables us to offer a complete project management package to our clients, from inception to delivery.”
Searchlight partners James Redmayne and Giles Marshall said:
“We are delighted to have completed this landmark partnership transaction alongside the RSK management team, Ares and Penta. This investment will help provide the platform for RSK to continue its mission of seeking to address the current and future impacts of climate change, through its broad range of environmental and engineering services. We look forward to working with them on this next phase of their growth journey.”
Michael Dennis, Co-Head of European Credit at Ares, added:
“We are pleased to complete this latest transaction and increase our financial commitment alongside other investors. We look forward to supporting RSK as it advances its strategic vision and toward long-term growth and value creation for the company and its stakeholders.”
Penta co-founding partner Steven Scott said:
“Alan and his colleagues have built a truly impressive business in RSK and we at Penta are delighted to lend our support for the years ahead. RSK has a unique opportunity to lead the transition to sustainable infrastructure in the UK and beyond, and we look forward to working with the team to deliver on its mission.”
UBS and Houlihan Lokey acted as financial advisers to RSK. Travers Smith advised the group on all legal aspects. Searchlight was advised by Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, Ares by Dechert LLP and Penta by Dickson Minto LLP.
