75% stake in South Staffs changes hands

Independent infrastructure asset management company Arjun Infrastructure Partners (AIP) has completed its acquisition of a 75% equity stake in South Staffordshire Group, on undisclosed terms.

The transaction was announced in April and cleared by the EU last month. The stake was bought chiefly from global investor KKR. Mitsubishi Corporation retains a 25% stake in South Staffs, and AIP said it planned to sell 19.9% to Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance Company.

Group chief executive of South Staffordshire Adrian Page said: “We are delighted to have successfully worked with the team at KKR over the past five years. We welcome Arjun as a long term investor based in the UK and are looking forward to working with them and maintaining our position as a leading company in the UK water sector.”

The group comprises South Staffordshire Water, which supplies 1.6 million customers in the South Staffordshire and Cambridge regions; and non regulated businesses including Echo Managed Services providing billing and contact management and specialist contractor SSI Services.