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The owners of Aggreko are pushing ahead with plans to either list the power supplier in the US or sell a stake in a move that could value the business at more than $12bn.
Aggreko, which provides electricity for events including Formula 1 races, Fifa World Cup matches and Glastonbury Festival, has posted rising earnings on the back of increasing demand for power.
The company is working with bankers at Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan as it prepares for a possible deal, according to people familiar with the matter. They cautioned that no decisions had yet been taken and plans could still change.
Aggreko was bought for £2.3bn in 2021 by a consortium including infrastructure investor I Squared Capital and TDR Capital in a deal that took the company off the London stock market.
The company offers services ranging from hiring industrial power generators to battery energy storage rentals.
Rising power demand due to the growth of AI and accompanying expansion of digital infrastructure has been a boon for energy groups, attracting private investment into the sector.
Last year I Squared sold Irish energy utility Energia Group to Ardian in a deal worth more than €2.5bn, after acquiring the business for about €1bn.
Aggreko has attracted interest from multiple potential suitors for a minority stake sale, the people said. It could also seek to return to public markets in the US as soon as later this year, they added.
Before its eventual takeover, Aggreko was run from 2003 to 2014 by Rupert Soames, a turnaround expert and the grandson of Winston Churchill, before he left to lead outsourcer Serco.
If Aggreko pursues a US listing it would mark the latest British business to seek a flotation abroad, as the London market faces a dearth of IPOs and other challenges.
Aggreko’s owners have sought to focus on higher-margin and faster-growing business segments, while investing in areas such as lower carbon technology.
The company proposed a dividend recapitalisation that would see it distribute $550mn to TDR and I Squared, following a $550mn dividend paid last May.
Aggreko posted revenues of $3.2bn in the 12 months to last September, generating earnings before interest, tax and other charges of $1.2bn. In 2020 — its last year as a public company — revenues were £1.37bn.
Aggreko, I Squared and TDR declined to comment.
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