Wateralia strengthens its position in the Australian market through the acquisition of Aquatec

Wateralia, one of the largest independent European players operating globally in the centrifugal pumps and water pumping systems sector, has completed the acquisition of Aquatec Holdings Pty Ltd, a leading supplier in Australia and New Zealand of water and wastewater management solutions. The transaction enables the Wateralia Group to further consolidate its international leadership in a sector experiencing strong growth in Australia, strengthening its engineering and system integration capabilities. The Group reports revenues of approximately €400 million and employs around 1,200 people across more than 140 countries.

The investment represents the first add-on transaction in the APAC (Asia-Pacific) region carried out by Ambienta SGR, an asset manager specialised in environmental sustainability investments, which owns Wateralia through the Ambienta IV Fund and Ambienta Water Pumps, a single-asset continuation fund with commitments of approximately €500 million.

With respect to the corporate/M&A aspects of the acquisition, Ambienta and Wateralia were assisted by Clifford Chance, acting with a multi-jurisdictional team comprising professionals from the Milan and Sydney offices. In particular, the Milan team was led by partner Claudio Cerabolini, supported by associate Amedeo Sciolari, while the Sydney team was led by partner Mark Currell, supported by senior associate Lucy Conway and associate Jae-Ho Kim. The sellers were assisted by Allens, an Australian law firm based in Sydney.

The transaction was financed through a tap issuance in private placement of a bond subscribed by funds affiliated with Blackstone, Stepstone and Eurizon, the proceeds of which were used to fund the acquisition price and related costs.

Greenberg Traurig assisted Ambienta and the Wateralia Group on the legal aspects of the financing, with a team led by partner Riccardo Agostinelli and composed of partner Marco Leonardi, senior associate Alessandro Pallavicini and trainee Lucrezia Naronte.

The international law firm White & Case assisted the bond subscribers with a team led by partners Stefano Bellani (Milan office), Gareth Eagles and Emma Foster (both London office), and Roman Picherack (Sydney office), together with senior associates Nicola Tosin (Milan office) and Greig Lamont (Sydney office), and associate Giorgio Hassan (Milan office).

The law firm Simmons & Simmons assisted Deutsche Trustee Company Limited, as notes trustee, and Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch, as security agent, with a team composed of partner Hannah Ward and associate Lukasz Napieraj (London office).

Facchini Rossi Michelutti assisted Ambienta and Wateralia on the tax matters related to the transaction structure, both with respect to the corporate/M&A aspects and those relating to the bond financing, with partners Luca Rossi and Giancarlo Lapecorella, supported by senior associate Armando Tardini and associate Massimiliano De Pasquale.

The notarial aspects of the transaction governed by Italian law were handled by ZNR Notai, with a team formed by partners Susanna Schneider and Stefano Rampolla, supported by Alessandro Franzini, Camilla Tolasi and Lodovico Ferrari, while, for the notarial aspects governed by English law, the company relied on the services of Saville Notaries of London.