Connecting Waterpeople

You are here

Saur buys Portuguese company Aquapor as part of its internationalisation strategy

  • Saur buys Portuguese company Aquapor as part of its internationalisation strategy
    Credit: Aquapor

About the entity

Themes

Saur has announced the acquisition of Aquapor, a leading company in water and wastewater services in Portugal. The operation is a milestone in Saur’s strategy that intends to build a leading international water player engaged in the ecological transition. It follows the acquisition of Nijhuis Industries in June 2020, another major step in Saur’s transformation.

The purchase adds c. €120 million revenues and 1,300 employees to Saur’s international division, which thus becomes 30% of the Group EBIDTA. Saur agreed the purchase of Criar Vantagens, owner of 100% of Aquapor, with DST Ambiente.

With Aquapor in Portugal and Gestagua and Emalsa in Spain under the Saur Group, it becomes the third operator in the Iberian Peninsula, with revenues of c. €250 million. Synergies are expected through the sharing of best practices and the entry of the solutions and technologies of Saur in the Portuguese market. Aquapor and its clients will have access to the resources of a leading international company, including digitalisation and engineering expertise, R&D, and investment capacity.

Aquapor, in business since 1997, provides water supply and sanitation services to 26 municipalities and 1.3 million people in Portugal, through 14 long-term concession contracts. Its subsidiary Luságua provides services to wastewater treatment plants and other water infrastructure, in addition to solid waste services. As well, Aquapor owns 30% of the company that delivers water and wastewater services to Jeddah 2 and 3 in Saudi Arabia. The water market in Portugal is a mature market with good conditions for private players. Aquapor’s business model has demonstrated excellent resilience during the health crisis.

Patrick Blethon, Executive Chairman of Saur, has said in a press release: “With the acquisition of Aquapor, Saur further accelerates its internationalization to reach € 1.8 billion revenues in 2021. The addition of Aquapor is margin accretive while preserving the existing growth profile, with strong and predictable cash flows. I am very happy to welcome Aquapor’s team to the Group: from now on over 10,000 people share the common mission to stand for water across all territories. We keep building, through this announcement, a leading and sustainable Company committed to the ecological transition.”

Subscribe to our newsletter

Topics of interest

The data provided will be treated by iAgua Conocimiento, SL for the purpose of sending emails with updated information and occasionally on products and / or services of interest. For this we need you to check the following box to grant your consent. Remember that at any time you can exercise your rights of access, rectification and elimination of this data. You can consult all the additional and detailed information about Data Protection.

Featured news