Hamilton Lane participates in minority investment in H&MV
H&MV Engineering (“H&MV”, “the Company”), a leading specialist in high voltage (“HV”) electrical engineering and design, announces a minority investment led by LGT Capital Partners, a leading global specialist in alternative investing. Current H&MV shareholders, including Exponent, a leading European private equity firm, and the management team, will retain a majority stake. Funds managed by global private markets investment management firm Hamilton Lane (Nasdaq: HLNE) will also make a minority investment via the firm's impact platform.
Bringing onboard new minority partners reflects H&MV’s significant growth in recent years and will help the business to further develop its footprint in the EMEA region and support expansion to new regions, including North America. In addition to LGT Capital Partners’ and Hamilton Lane’s investment, H&MV has also secured debt financing from Ares Management, as well as working capital facilities from a syndicate of leading banks to support the Company’s growth ambitions.
H&MV, founded in 1997, provides comprehensive turnkey HV services across design, installation, commissioning and maintenance of HV substations and grid connections, occupying a mission-critical role in its customers’ capital projects and value chains. It serves blue-chip Data Centre, Renewables and Utility clients from its locations in Ireland, the UK and across EMEA, including the Nordics, the Netherlands and Germany.
Since Exponent’s investment in 2022, H&MV has experienced remarkable growth. Key milestones include a fourfold increase in revenue to over €500m, geographic expansion into multiple new markets, securing landmark contracts across its multinational client base, and developing a clear ESG, sustainability and impact strategy. The business also bolstered its core HV specialist offering through the acquisition of Skanstec Group earlier this year, bringing a complementary presence in Iberia and Denmark and adding telecommunications and connectivity expertise into the group.
Today H&MV has a record order book in excess of €1bn and a weighted pipeline of over €1.7bn of opportunities across EMEA. With support from Exponent, LGT Capital Partners and Hamilton Lane, the business is well positioned to accelerate its ambitious growth plans, leveraging the Company’s position as the market-leading specialist in HV infrastructure engineering in deep markets with huge growth potential.
P.J. Flanagan, CEO, H&MV Engineering said: “We are pleased to welcome LGT Capital Partners and Hamilton Lane as investment partners into H&MV Engineering. This is a significant milestone in the H&MV journey and will support our growth ambitions as we further develop our footprint across the EMEA region and accelerate our expansion plans internationally. This displays our commitment to our loyal clients and dedicated staff as we continue our growth plans to become a premier global provider of specialised design and engineering services in the Energy sector across the globe.”
John Moore, Chair, H&MV Engineering commented: “H&MV is a fantastic business led by a strong management team which operates in highly attractive and rapidly growing end markets. The pace of the energy transition and digitalisation shows no sign of slowing, and H&MV continues to be well placed to enable its clients’ critical infrastructure in these areas.”
Tim Easingwood, Partner at Exponent, added: “H&MV has shown exceptional growth since we invested in 2022 and we look forward to continue working closely with PJ Flanagan and his team in the years ahead. The new minority partnership, led by LGT Capital Partners, is set to help accelerate the Company’s international growth, enhance its design and delivery capabilities, and advance its business development agenda.”
Tommaso Crackett, Principal at LGT Capital Partners also commented: “We are pleased to accompany H&MV Engineering and Exponent on this growth journey and to leverage our reach and resources to help accelerate further. The growing demand for data, decarbonization and electrification presents a big opportunity for the company’s operations.”
H&MV was advised on the transaction by Rothschild & Co (sole equity and debt financial adviser), Macfarlanes, A&L Goodbody, LEK and KPMG.
Clearwater and Squire Patton Boggs provided corporate finance and legal advice respectively to the H&MV management team shareholders.
About Exponent
Established in 2004 with a presence in London, Dublin and Amsterdam, Exponent is a leading private equity firm. The Firm invests in mid-market companies headquartered across Europe (UK, Ireland, Benelux and Nordics). Exponent has a distinctive approach, central to which is identifying the potential in corporate, family or founder owned businesses.
Exponent has raised more than €3 billion to date. A selection of Exponent’s current and past investments include market leading businesses such as Trainline, Moonpig, Ambassador Theatre Group, H&MV, Xeinadin and Quorn Foods.
Exponent has been investing in Irish-based and owned businesses for over ten years. The Firm acquired Fintrax in 2012 (now known as Planet), the Racing Post in 2016, Enva in 2017, H&MV Engineering and Xeinadin in 2022, and most recently, in 2024, Chanelle Pharma and Ethos Engineering.
About LGT Capital Partners
LGT Capital Partners is a leading global specialist in alternative investing with over USD 100 billion in assets under management and more than 700 institutional clients in 44 countries. An international team of 850 professionals is responsible for managing a wide range of investment programs focusing on private markets, multi-alternatives and diversifying strategies, as well as sustainable and impact strategies. Headquartered in Pfaeffikon (SZ), Switzerland, the firm has offices in San Francisco, New York, Dublin, London, Paris, The Hague, Luxembourg, Frankfurt am Main, Vaduz, Dubai, Beijing, Hong Kong SAR, Tokyo and Sydney.
About Hamilton Lane
Hamilton Lane (Nasdaq: HLNE) is one of the largest private markets investment firms globally, providing innovative solutions to institutional and private wealth investors around the world. Dedicated exclusively to private markets investing for more than 30 years, the firm currently employs approximately 700 professionals operating in offices throughout North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East. Hamilton Lane has more than $940 billion in assets under management and supervision, composed of nearly $130 billion in discretionary assets and more than $810 billion in non-discretionary assets, as of June 30, 2024. Hamilton Lane specializes in building flexible investment programs that provide clients access to the full spectrum of private markets strategies, sectors and geographies. For more information, please visit our website or follow Hamilton Lane on LinkedIn.