Acquisitive compliance firm drives forward with fresh PE-investment

An environmental compliance firm has secured fresh private equity investment as it continues to execute a buy-and-build strategy.
IK Partners has invested in Herefordshire-based HSL Compliance alongside its management team and previous investor LDC.
HSL, which provides water hygiene, treatment, and compliance services, has grown since LDC’s investment in 2019, completing 11 bolt-on acquisitions, quadrupling revenues to £77m and doubling its workforce to 650 employees.
The carve-out from global testing, inspection and certification group Kiwa in 2019 now has 19 offices across the UK and Ireland and serves more than 370 customers across a variety of private and public sectors, including food and beverage, manufacturing, facilities management, healthcare and education.
With IK’s support, the company aims to grow further through organic expansion and acquisitions.
Gavin Hartley, CEO of HSL said: “HSL has grown tremendously since inception and with the recent add-on acquisitions, I believe we have built an extremely solid foundation for the future. With the support of LDC, we have established HSL as a market-leading TICC service provider in the UK. The new partnership with IK will allow us to continue executing a targeted buy-and-build strategy and explore new opportunities to broaden our service offering. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the LDC team for their unwavering support over the last few years and look forward to working with them alongside the team at IK.”
Tom Salmon, partner at IK and Advisor to the IK SC III Fund said: “We have been closely following the progress made by HSL in recent years and have been impressed by its unwavering commitment to quality and service delivery. We are looking forward to working with Gavin and his experienced team in their efforts to drive continued growth, by utilising our experience and expertise in executing successful buy-and-build strategies, while also supporting growth across a range of operational initiatives.”
Jonathan Bell, managing Partner at LDC added: “This has been a truly transformational period for HSL following the carve-out from global testing, inspection and certification group Kiwa in 2019. Since then, Gavin and the team have delivered on an ambitious growth strategy, underpinned by investment in its proposition and a series of successful strategic acquisitions. We’re excited to support HSL alongside IK as it continues to capitalise on high demand for its market-leading services in an attractive sector.”
The financial details of the deal remain undisclosed and are subject to regulatory approval.