Acquisitive group cleans up with deal for Leeds hygiene business

A LEEDS water treatment company has been acquired by business development group Marlowe plc.

H2O Chemicals has been bought by the AIM listed company which specialises in acquiring and developing businesses involved in “critical asset maintenance.”

The deal is worth £2.8m and will be funded through an extension of its debt facility. Marlowe is also undertaking a share placing to raise £10m.

H2O employs 84 staff in Leeds with additional offices in Batley, Nottingham, London, and Sunderland, and will add to the activities of Marlowe’s existing water treatment business WCS.

In its latest accounts for the year to 31 January, it turned over £6.1m and returned an adjusted EBITDA of £600,000.

It was founded in 1992 and specialises in air and water treatment, water hygiene and training services.

Alex Dacre, chief executive of Marlowe plc, commented: “The acquisition of H2O will significantly expand Marlowe’s water treatment activities and marks the next step towards fulfilling our strategic objective of providing national coverage in each of our sectors.

“H2O is a good fit with WCS and has some excellent customer relationships that will further enhance our platform for growth.

“The placing and subscription announced today will provide us with resources to continue to add scale to Marlowe across our Water Treatment and Fire divisions as we implement our strategy of building a leading UK support services group in complementary areas of critical asset maintenance.”