Terra Firma

East Surrey Holdings

Description

East Surrey Holdings (ESH) operated and developed regulated infrastructure businesses and originally included three operations: Sutton and East Surrey Water (SESW), Phoenix Natural Gas (PNG) and East Surrey Pipelines (ESP).

SESW is a regulated water supplier providing services to domestic and commercial properties in South London and Surrey. PNG was established in 1996 to introduce natural gas to the industrial, commercial and domestic markets of the Greater Belfast area and holds a monopoly licence for the transmission, distribution and supply of gas. ESP is a natural gas transportation business, bringing gas to industrial, commercial and domestic properties in Great Britain. BGCL was acquired from Centrica in May 2005 and operates a similar gas transportation business to ESP

Strategy

ESH was a unique opportunity for Terra Firma to acquire a portfolio of regulated utility businesses, with the gas businesses demonstrating strong growth prospects and the mature water business, SESW, being a near-term disposal opportunity. Following its merger with BGCL, ESP represented a sizeable position within the independent gas transportation market, with recent trades in the sector showing significant appetite for consolidation.

Outcome

SESW was sold in January 2006 to an infrastructure fund. In June 2006, following its merger with BGCL, ESP was also sold.

« Back to portfolio