Livingbridge Announces Sale of Network Plus

Livingbridge, one of the UK’s leading mid-market private equity investors, today announces the completion of the sale of utility and infrastructure service provider Network Plus in a transaction led by OMERS Private Equity.

Founded in 2000, Network Plus provides its utility clients with end-to-end solutions for gas, power, telecoms, transport, water and waste water, supporting them with initial project design, day-to-day delivery of services and operational maintenance. Clients include Cadent, Western Power Distribution, CityFibre, United Utilities and Severn Trent.

Headquartered in Worsley, Greater Manchester, the firm employs over 5,000 professionals operating from 85 regional offices and depots across the UK.

Livingbridge invested in Network Plus in 2020, one of the earliest examples of Livingbridge’s ‘True Minority’ strategy of investing for smaller equity stakes – between 10-25% – in UK businesses.

The leadership team has delivered significant organic growth during Livingbridge’s investment tenure, with several sizeable long-term contract wins across the water, gas, power and telecoms sectors. As a result, revenue has more than doubled.

To support the rate of organic growth, the business strengthened its senior management team, welcoming a new Chair, HR Director and three divisional Executive Directors to provide additional bandwidth. The scale of operations and infrastructure increased substantially including a move to a new head office.

Network Plus has also executed a successful M&A programme to drive growth. It completed the acquisition of Capital Traffic Management in June 2021 to expand the geographical coverage of the Group’s traffic management subsidiary. It then acquired EOS Contracting Ltd in August 2021 to offer complementary solutions to clients including specialist vegetation surveys and arboriculture activities. This demonstrates the capability of Network Plus to add additional acquisitions in the future.

Andrew Garside at Livingbridge, said:

“We could not be more pleased with the result that has been achieved by Dan, Stuart and every member of the team at Network Plus. We highly respect the leadership team and their maintenance of high quality standards to clients through an exceptional period of strong growth. I have personally really enjoyed working with an ambitious and pacey team.”

Dan Holland, co-CEO at Network Plus, said: “We are delighted with the progress we have made over the past two years. Our increased national presence, enhanced offering and strong revenue growth all speak for themselves, and I am grateful to the team at Livingbridge for how supportive they have been in backing our vision for the business.”

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