A West Midlands energy group has been sold for £216 million.
Solihull-based UK Power Reserve, said to be the country's largest flexible distributed energy generator, has been acquired by Sembcorp Industries from Equistone Partners Europe and Inflexion Private Equity.
The deal gives Middlesbrough-based Sembcorp an additional capacity of over 1,000 megawatts (MW) in the UK where it currently supplies energy, centralised utilities and services to industrial firms in the Teesside area.
Founded in 2010, UK Power Reserve's assets are spread across 32 locations in England and Wales and help to supplement renewable power supplies and add resilience to the national grid by providing high-value rapid response services to balance the system.
Tim Emrich is stepping down as chief executive of UK Power Reserve which now employs 150 staff and has annual revenue of circa £80 million.
He said: "This is an exciting new chapter.
"Sembcorp's investment underlines not only the value of the UK's distributed energy market but also the strong position that we have built up.
"The next phase of development is already well under way and integration with Sembcorp opens up huge possibilities for the future."
Chief commercial officer Sam Wither will take over from Mr Emrich as head of UK Power Reserve.
Nomi Ahmad, head of Sembcorp's UK utilities business, said: "Sembcorp is delighted to have secured this exciting business which deepens our presence in the UK considerably and provides major opportunities for further expansion.
"UK Power Reserve and Sembcorp's existing Teesside business will form a strong integrated energy business in the UK, combining centralised services with multiple flexible assets across the country along with expertise across the full spectrum of UK energy markets.
"We are committed to supporting the UK's power needs in line with government policy and the acquisition of UK Power Reserve does exactly that.
"In addition, it complements our existing operations on Teesside superbly and set us firmly on track for further growth in the UK."
Simon Turner, managing partner at Inflexion, said: "UK Power Reserve has been a pioneer in the sector, taking advantage of the rapidly changing market.
"In our two-and-a-half-year partnership, we worked closely with the entrepreneurial management team to double its headcount and portfolio while simultaneously quadrupling its revenue.
"Changing market dynamics posed an opportunity for the business to scale and we were well placed to assist them with this.
"We wish the business every success as it embarks on its next chapter."
