On 21 March 2017, Canadian design firm Stantec announced an agreement to sell water infrastructure modelling firm Innovyze to private equity firm EQT Partners for US$270 million. The deal marks the end of Stantec’s short-lived ownership of Innovyze, after acquiring the smart water software player as part of the US$795 million acquisition of MWH Global, in March 2016.
Innovyze marks the second smart water company added to the EQT Mid Market US portfolio, following the September 2016 acquisition of XP Solutions.
In this Research Note, Bluefield water experts analyze the impact of this acquisition on the smart water market, evaluate the strategies of the companies involved, and identify other likely smart water company acquisition targets.
Bluefield Takeaways
- Stantec sells off profitable, non-core asset to recover MWH acquisition cost.
- EQT eyes high margins, targets smart water as key growth segment.
- Innovyze sale sets benchmark for smart water as Bentley takes note