IN Brief:
- H.I.G. Capital has completed its acquisition of water and power infrastructure contractor Avove.
- Avove’s existing management team will remain in place and reinvest alongside the new owner.
- AMP8 and wider energy network investment provide substantial opportunities, although labour and delivery capacity remain constrained.
Avove has entered private equity ownership after H.I.G. Capital completed its acquisition of the UK water and power infrastructure contractor for an undisclosed sum.
Operating across Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Avove provides design, engineering, construction, maintenance, and operational services to regulated utilities. Its existing management team will remain in place and reinvest alongside H.I.G.
The contractor employs more than 800 people and reported revenue of approximately £227m for 2025, compared with £216m in the previous year. Pre tax profit increased by around 29% to £17m, providing H.I.G. with a profitable platform in markets receiving sustained capital investment.
Created from the former Amey Utilities business following its separation in 2022, Avove works across water and wastewater networks, treatment assets, power infrastructure, and associated engineering services.
H.I.G. intends to support both organic growth and acquisitions that broaden the company’s service capability. Regulated infrastructure has attracted increasing investor interest as utilities prepare to renew ageing assets, expand capacity, reduce pollution, and strengthen resilience against severe weather.
Mark Perkins, chief executive of Avove, said the company would continue to focus on innovation, quality, and safety while pursuing expansion. The partnership is expected to provide additional capital and strategic support as demand increases across water and power programmes.
The water sector offers the most immediate volume through AMP8, the current regulatory investment period for England and Wales. Programmes include leakage reduction, storm overflow improvements, treatment capacity, network reinforcement, environmental compliance, and the renewal of ageing infrastructure.
Investment moves towards delivery capacity
AMP8 has changed the commercial environment for utility contractors because water companies must convert approved spending into deliverable projects while competing for designers, civil engineers, specialist installers, equipment manufacturers, and experienced programme managers.
Avove’s ability to combine investigation, engineering, construction, and commissioning gives clients access to several stages of delivery through a single organisation. That integration can reduce interfaces, although it also increases exposure to programme coordination, resource availability, and project risk.
New ownership may provide capital for recruitment, regional expansion, digital systems, and targeted acquisitions. H.I.G.’s stated strategy suggests that Avove could add specialist capabilities alongside growth secured through larger framework allocations.
Infrastructure services have become attractive to investors seeking revenue linked to long asset cycles and regulated capital programmes. Greater visibility does not remove delivery risk, however, because framework expenditure is often released in phases and margins depend on careful control of labour, subcontractors, materials, and site conditions.
Water projects can encounter uncertain ground, incomplete asset records, environmental constraints, congested streets, and live network interfaces that are difficult to price precisely. Contractors carrying out renewal work must also manage traffic, customer disruption, reinstatement, and temporary service arrangements.
Alternative construction methods can reduce some of that exposure. The adoption of pipe bursting techniques for AMP8 renewal programmes shows how utilities are using trenchless methods to shorten excavation, reduce surface disruption, and replace existing mains within constrained corridors.
Power infrastructure gives Avove a second substantial route to growth. Distribution networks, transmission systems, renewable connections, data centres, transport electrification, and industrial demand are driving cable, substation, civil engineering, and reinforcement projects across the UK.
National Grid’s £70bn network investment plan illustrates the scale of capital being directed towards the electricity system. Delivering that programme will require a combination of major contractors, regional specialists, equipment manufacturers, and trained electrical and civil engineering teams.
Some resources can move between water and power, particularly in surveying, excavation, reinstatement, utility detection, design coordination, and programme management. Specialist competencies remain distinct, and expansion will need to preserve the technical and safety controls required by each client.
Private equity ownership will bring stronger expectations for growth and operating improvement. Avove enters that phase with established customer relationships, rising markets, and profitable operations, but it also faces intense competition for skilled labour and subcontractor capacity.
Acquisitions could strengthen the company’s position in specialist areas, although integrating businesses carries its own risks. Systems, commercial controls, safety cultures, customer relationships, and regional operations must be aligned without disrupting live programmes.
The quality of Avove’s order book will remain as important as its size. Framework positions provide access to work, yet sustainable margins depend on appropriate risk allocation, accurate project information, disciplined bidding, and the ability to retain experienced teams between phases.
H.I.G.’s investment gives Avove additional scope to pursue the expanding water and power pipeline. Converting that opportunity into durable growth will depend on how carefully capital, acquisitions, and delivery resources are matched to the pace at which clients release work.
