Oct. 31, 2011 -- The Amplio Group (London, U.K.), a leading international operator and investor in the renewable energy and environmental sectors, has announced that its water filtration subsidiary, Amplio Filtration Group, has secured a €16 million equity investment. Ambienta SGR, one of the top five global private equity firm investing in the environmental sector, made the investment through its Ambienta I fund, and this leads to Ambienta SGR becoming a minority shareholder in Amplio Filtration Group.
Ambienta I, started in 2008, has €217.5 million of committed capital and it is ranked in the top five private equity funds globally investing in the environmental sector (2011 analysis on Prequin data).
Amplio Filtration is currently delivering double digit growth and revenues of €35 million expected for FY 2011 (2010: €22 million; 2009: €14 million). To date, Amplio Filtration has acquired four companies across three geographies since it was founded by holding company Amplio Group in H2 2009, with the aim of consolidating the fragmented water treatment and filtration process sector. Ambienta's investment will help to accelerate the delivery of Amplio Filtration objectives, which includes continuing to expand the business internationally and to grow it into a €100 million revenue water management company by 2014.
Amplio Filtration's strategy is to cross-sell technologies and expertise across geographies in order to strengthen growth and deliver an enlarged global footprint. US-based Envirogen Technology Inc (systems and services for the treatment of potable water, groundwater and wastewater) was the first company to be incorporated, followed by UK-based Puresep Filtration Technologies Ltd and Environmental Water Systems (services and systems for water filtration processes) and most recently Italy-based Fluxa Filtri SpA (distributors of filters and consumables for a wide range of applications).
Amplio Filtration's acquisition pipeline continues to be in niche markets -- including the decontamination of selenium in wastewater from mining, the removal of nitrates from groundwater, systems used in the food and beverage, healthcare and oil and gas industries -- further expanding Amplio Filtration's cross-selling opportunities, through its vast client base and the geographic diversification of the business, both in Europe and in the US.
By cross-selling, Amplio Filtration is well-placed to strengthen its position in the c. US$600 billion global water market. The market is growing at 6-7% in part due to the stricter implementation of existing environmental legislation.
Andrea Davi, Head of Amplio Filtration said: "We are delighted to announce this support and financial backing from such a strong partner in the private equity sector investing in the environmental sector. This agreement with Ambienta further strengthens Amplio Filtration's position in the attractive global water market, which is set to grow by a further 6-7% this year to c. US$600 billion. It allows us to accelerate Amplio Filtration's growth via acquisition and organically through cross-selling our technologies and expertise across the business. Additionally, we now have access to the cutting-edge Italian water filtration market and we are confident that we can continue to expand Amplio Filtration's European and US footprint and achieve revenues of €100 million by 2014."
Riccardo Segat, CEO and founder of Amplio Group said: "Ambienta's investment marks an important step in Amplio Group's successful growth story, as we continue to consolidate our operational and financial capabilities in the environmental services sector as a whole. Amplio Group's strategic focus over the next five years will remain renewable energy and water treatment, which complements Ambienta's commitment to these sectors globally. We are very excited about the strong organic growth and pipeline of acquisitions for Amplio Filtration in both Europe and the US but also in emerging markets."
Mauro Roversi, Partner at Ambienta SGR commented: "Over the last three years we have looked at a number of investment opportunities in the sector without finding the right balance of leadership capability, strategic focus and geographic mix. Amplio Filtration offers all of these characteristics. Over the next three years, Ambienta will work with management on identifying and acquiring complementary businesses with the objective of creating an important player on the market."
To date, Andrea Davi's and Riccardo Segat's business has attracted well-regarded industry executives who have brought with them experience from the leading players in the market. Among these executives, Mike Stark -- CEO of Envirogen -- former Managing Director of Veolia Water North America and one of the leading experts in the sector, was one of the first to support the strategy. Stark's move to Amplio Filtration was closely followed by Vince Payne, another high profile figure in the sector, who after managerial roles at US Gilters UK, founded Puresep and now heads up the UK arm of Amplio Filtration.
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