Aquavista Watersides & Marinas acquired by Antin Infrastructure Partners
Aquavista Watersides & Marinas, the UK’s largest marina infrastructure provider, has been acquired by Antin Infrastructure Partners, marking a successful exit for leading private equity investor LDC following a seven-year partnership.
Founded in 2003 and based in Nottingham, Aquavista is the UK’s largest marina owner and operator, with 32 inland and coastal marinas offering over 5,300 berths and marine services across the country. Offering residential and leisure berths, boat sales, floating homes and marine services, Aquavista’s sites include Buckden Waterside & Marina near St. Neots in Cambridgeshire, Diglis in Worcester and Lemonroyd in Leeds.
The transaction marks a successful exit for leading private equity investor LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds Bank, following a seven-year partnership during which the company nearly tripled revenue and doubled the size of its marina portfolio through a series of strategic acquisitions. This includes the transformational acquisition of Castle Marinas in 2021.
Building on this fast growth, Aquavista is ideally positioned to be the consolidator of the fragmented UK market, capitalising on a strong track record of organic growth complemented by successful acquisitions.
Steve de Polo, CEO of Aquavista, said:
“LDC has been an invaluable partner and the scale we’ve achieved together has enabled us to significantly enhance our services putting us in an incredibly strong position for future growth. We are delighted to partner with Antin to build on the strong foundations developed with LDC’s support and accelerate our growth.
“We see many expansion opportunities ahead, and Antin is the right partner to help us consolidate our leadership and deliver our proposition of quality facilities and services to an ever-greater number of customers who share our vision of freedom and togetherness.”
Antin Infrastructure Partners is a leading private equity firm focused on infrastructure, with offices in Paris, London, New York, Seoul, Singapore and Luxembourg. With over €33 billion in assets under management across its Flagship, Mid Cap and NextGen investment strategies, Antin targets investments in the energy and environment, digital, transport and social infrastructure sectors.
Simon Soder and Assia Belkahia, respectively Senior Partner and Partner at Antin Infrastructure Partners, commented:
“Aquavista has all the characteristics we look for in our mid cap strategy, notably high barriers to entry and strong resiliency, and benefits from supportive long-term tailwinds. The company has a clear and ambitious plan to scale up its already leading presence in an attractive market segment, and we look forward to working with Aquavista’s management and team to support the company’s continued growth in marina infrastructure.”
Antin’s Mid Cap Fund I invested in Aquavista – the sixth by the €2.2 billion fund – alongside CEO Steve de Polo and other members of the management team.
David Bains, Partner and Head of the East Midlands and East of England at LDC, added:
“Our seven-year partnership has established Aquavista as a market leader through organic and acquisitive growth, including the strategic acquisition of Castle Marinas, which we supported with significant follow-on funding. It has been a privilege to support this locally headquartered business to become a national success story, and we wish the very best to Steve and his team on the next stage of their journey.”