Selwood and Siltbuster owner sells majority stake to fund manager

Workdry International Ltd, the holding company for the UK’s Selwood Ltd, Siltbuster Ltd and Siltbuster Process Solutions Ltd, has sold a majority stake to independent fund manager Arcus Infrastructure Partners.

With 21 branches and 490 employees, Hampshire-based Selwood is a pump rental company, and a manufacturer of pumping equipment for sale domestically and internationally.

Siltbuster, which is based in Monmouth, Wales and employs 77 people, rents assets to provide on-site water treatment, wet waste processing and prevent waterborne pollution.

Workdry International will remain a fully independent business, with Arcus Infrastructure Partners as majority shareholder. There will be no day-to-day changes for customers, staff or suppliers, and Workdry CEO Richard Brown, CFO Nigel Apps and their executive leadership team will continue to deliver the group’s strategy. The Bright family, who have held a controlling interest in the group since 1976, will relinquish its controlling interest but remain involved in Selwood. Richard Bright will step down as chairman but remain as an investor board member.

“Workdry is an incredibly successful business that has grown significantly over the past decade in line with the board’s plans to deliver the very best in complete water handling and treatment solutions on a regional, national and international scale,” said Richard Brown, CEO of Workdry International. “Delivering the next steps in our growth required new and experienced investors to enable us to scale up while continuing to deliver the quality products and services that our customers associate with our Selwood and Siltbuster brands. The team at Arcus shares our values, vision and commitment to outstanding provision of mission-critical assets and services, and their investment will enable us to deliver on those ambitions, building on all we have achieved to date to strengthen our position as a European leader in water and wastewater asset leasing and integrated solutions.”

Arcus Infrastructure focuses solely on long-term investments in European infrastructure, targeting mid-market, value-add infrastructure investments with a focus on businesses in the digital, transport, logistics and industrials, and energy sectors.

 “We have spent significant time reviewing value-add industrial asset leasing businesses in Europe, and Workdry was prioritised given its strong fit with our infrastructure investment strategy,” said Jordan Cott, partner at Arcus. “Workdry benefits from predictable and broadly non-cyclical demand, as well as a diversified and blue-chip customer base, which provides a robust foundation for future growth.”

Richard Bright said: “Our family’s involvement with the Workdry International Ltd businesses dates back to 1976 when my late father, Kevin, joined Selwood Ltd as an 18-year-old. While this transaction sees us relinquish our controlling interest in the group we will remain invested alongside Arcus, reflecting not only our confidence in the Group, its leadership and employees, but also our trust in Arcus as a good home for a business that we deeply care about.”