Waterland, the Dutch private equity firm, has raised a new €4 billion fund backed by investors including the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF), which it says will seed further investment in the Republic.
The Irish arm of the firm, Waterland Ireland, has been particularly active in the market here over the past seven years.
Waterland has invested in five Irish so-called platform companies since 2019, including Meath-based data centre cable specialist MTM Engineering, Net Zero Group – formed through the Waterland-backed merger of two green heating and plumbing companies in 2023 – and the Silver Stream Healthcare nursing home group.
On Friday, the Dutch group said it had closed its 10th institutional flagship fund at €4 billion. Waterland also closed a second €600 million partnership fund.
RM Block
Both fundraises were oversubscribed and closed at their respective hard caps in less than four months after launch, Waterland said.
Taxpayer-owned ISIF was among the investors in the flagship fund.
Kerry Group CEO on the impact of Middle East conflict, AI and drive to keep bread fresher for longer
Laura Dillon, partner at Waterland Ireland, said the fundraise was a “strong endorsement of Waterland’s buy-and-build strategy”.
She said: “Ireland continues to offer compelling opportunities in fragmented, growing markets, and we look forward to partnering with ambitious management teams to help accelerate growth and support international expansion.
“Waterland works closely in partnership with business owners, entrepreneurs and family-run companies with strong potential, helping them scale faster than they could independently, while remaining headquartered in Ireland with the ambition to become European leaders.”
Last week, Waterland announced the sale of Mullingar-based fire safety group Wtech to New York-listed API Group.
The private equity firm acquired a majority stake in the Irish group in 2021, before bolting on more than 12 smaller, complementary businesses.
The transaction marked Waterland’s first Irish exit.
Waterland Ireland says it has completed some 40 Irish acquisitions since 2020.
