Castik Capital, a European private equity investment firm, has closed a new single asset fund, EPIC I-b, which will acquire a controlling stake in Waterlogic, a global provider of purified drinking water dispensers, at its hard cap of EUR700 million.
The fund will be managed by Castik Capital, which has had a successful partnership with Waterlogic since 2015.
The fund will acquire the majority stake in Waterlogic from Castik Capital’s EPIC I Fund. This transaction follows the sale of a significant minority stake in the company to four institutional investors – British Columbia BCI, Neuberger Berman, StepStone, and Skandia – that closed in April 2020. The Fund will provide Waterlogic with an extended investment horizon, additional capital to execute its buy & build strategy, and the resources to support Waterlogic’s global growth ambitions. The Fund will provide Castik Capital and its investment partners with the opportunity to continue to participate in future growth and value creation at Waterlogic.
Since EPIC I Fund’s initial investment in Waterlogic in January 2015, Waterlogic’s business has increased fivefold, driven by favourable underlying market and sustainability trends in a growing and under-penetrated B2B water market and a deep pipeline of buy and build opportunities globally. Waterlogic has grown to become a leading global provider of purified drinking water dispensers, with revenues of cUSD400 million and EBITDA in excess of USD150 million. The company is vertically integrated with in-house R&D and manufacturing sites in the USA, Australia and China, and serves customers in 18 countries directly through its Full Service Rental model, with distribution to a further 50 countries globally. The transformation since 2015, spearheaded by the global Waterlogic management team, has been driven by organic growth initiatives such as new market entry and the launch of innovative new products, and almost 80 add-on acquisitions.
Jeremy Ben David, Waterlogic Founder and Group CEO, says: “We are delighted to continue our journey with Castik Capital, following six years of successful partnership, and warmly welcome our new investors. The transaction provides further access to capital and a flexible, long term ownership horizon in support of Waterlogic’s growth ambition to become the global leader in the fast-growing market for bottle-less workplace hydration.”
Michael Phillips, Managing Partner at Castik Capital, says: “This is an exciting investment opportunity for Castik Capital and a significant validation of Waterlogic as the leading provider of drinking water solutions to businesses globally. We are pleased to have the support of our existing limited partners and a blue-chip set of new investors. After six years of successful development at Waterlogic, we are enthusiastic to continue our partnership and support the company’s ambitious growth strategy over the next few years.”
Castik Capital was advised by Monument Group as placement agent, and Skadden, Poellath + Partners, Fried Frank, and Arendt & Medernach as legal advisors.
