Engineering group H&MV will accelerate its US expansion and continue growing in Ireland after securing €750 million in further investment, according to chief executive, PJ Flanagan.
Existing backer, European private equity fund Exponent, along with new partners Apollo, Pantheon and SQ Capital, are investing €750 million in Limerick-headquartered H&MV, valuing the high-voltage electrical engineering specialist at €1.4 billion.
The move will allow the business add 1,100 jobs to the 1,900 people currently employed and progress plans to expand in the US, where demand for its skills is rapidly growing, Flanagan confirmed.
“It’s momentous to get this completed,” he said, adding that the scale of the investment and quality of the backers coming on board were a real “vote of confidence” in the Irish business.
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H&MV has been in the US for around nine months and bought a business, Cooke Power Services, to give it a foothold there. The company has begun work on its first project there and plans to open a US headquarters in Dallas, Texas next month.
H&MV specialises in high-voltage electrical engineering services for renewable energy, battery systems, utilities and data centres, aiding these businesses in connecting to power grids, among other services.
It has businesses across this country, Europe, Asia and the US. State-owned energy group, the ESB, is one of its Irish clients.
This State will remain a significant part of the business as H&MV expands, according to Flanagan, particularly if it meets commitments to invest in its electricity supply networks.
H&MV manages much of the design work on international projects from its Irish base, its chief executive explained.
More than half the 1,100 new workers it plans to hire will be based in the Republic, but will probably travel to countries where the company is working on different projects.
H&MV said it will hire around 100 electrical apprentices and 50 graduate engineers this year.
So far the business has not struggled to lure new staff in areas where skills are squeezed, Flanagan said. “We have a good reputation, people really like working for the business,” he said.
Revenues should hit €1 billion this year from €61 million in 2020. Ireland will generate around one-third of that.
H&MV has a €2 billion order book, a €16 billion pipeline and a target of €3 billion in revenues within five years.
“This transaction gives H&MV the long-term backing to scale at the pace of the markets we serve and to deliver on our five-year growth ambition,” said Flanagan in a statement.
Exponent first invested in H&MV in 2022. The firm dubbed the latest around a “continuation fund”, which enables backers to reinvest in a business rather than cash out.
“We remain a committed, long-term partner and are excited by the opportunity ahead,” said Tim Easingwood, partner at Exponent.
Regulators must approve the deal, which the parties hope will be completed in September.
