Stephens Scown has advised a water treatment business based in Indian Queens, Cornwall on a deal with new German owners. The deal will strengthen the position of the company in the industry, giving it increased capacity and the potential for expansion.
The Hydra Group supplies water treatment engineering solutions to all of the water utility companies around the UK including Thames Water, South West Water, Scottish Water and Yorkshire Water. The shareholders have sold the business to Eliquo Water Group GmbH, the municipal water platform of German entrepreneur Susanne Klatten’s investment holding SKion GmbH. The selling shareholders will continue to run the business for the new owners.
Stephens Scown advised Hydra Group and its shareholders on the share sale, which required substantial restructuring of the Group, and complex tax clearances.
David Armstrong, Managing Director of the newly named Eliquo Hydrok said: “This transaction shall take our company to a greater level within our industry and enable the delivery of high value contracts working within the financial and contractual demands these bring. The technology already existing within the Eliquo Group shall now be readily accessible to all of our UK clients and perfectly complements and supports our companies’ previous portfolio.
“The shareholders of The Hydra Group were guided through some challenging times during this deal and were grateful for the professional and efficient guidance provided by the team at Stephens Scown; we are of course delighted with the final outcome and thank their team for all of their efforts.”
The lead partner on the deal at Stephens Scown said: “The work on this deal presented a number of interesting challenges and we are delighted that it has reached a successful conclusion. The new ownership of the company means that the business now has substantial financial backing to support it as it develops and expands further. It is fantastic to have such a successful and ambitious company based here in Cornwall and I have no doubt that there will be new job opportunities resulting from this deal.
“It is interesting to note that two of the selling shareholders were originally taken on by the Group several years ago under Unlocking Cornish Potential (now known as Unlocking Potential) and so this deal is testament to the success of that scheme.”
Allyson Glover, Programme Director of Unlocking Potential said: “We’ve been delighted to have had some part in developing the career progression of the shareholders in the Group. It goes to show the long-term gain of taking people on at graduate level and it’s wonderful to watch them flourish within the business.”