Custom Solar to be acquired by Mitie to boost green energy solution offering

Mitie Group has entered into a sale and purchase agreement to acquire the entire issued share capital of rooftop PV firm Custom Solar.

The transaction – set to complete on 30 June – is set to support Mitie’s ambition of being a leading provider of end-to-end green energy solutions, with the company looking to fill what it said is a gap in the market for truly integrated solar solutions.

This is to build on Mitie’s experience in upgrading electrical infrastructure and providing grid connections, with the company having recently acquired Rock Power Connections – a company specialising in high voltage grid connections, electrical infrastructure upgrades and electric vehicle (EV) charging installations.

For the Custom Solar acquisition, the transaction consideration comprises an initial payment of £8 million, with deferred payments in aggregate of up to £4.4 million by the end of FY25, linked to performance targets.

Custom Solar is to be acquired cash free, debt free and with a normalised level of working capital.

For the 12 months ended 31 March 2022, Custom Solar generated revenues of £15 million and profit before tax of £2 million and had gross assets of £7 million.

It follows Custom Solar securing £4.8 million in new lending from Virgin Money last year to finance its growth ambitions. Indeed, at the time, the company had an “ever-growing 200MW pipeline of solar projects” and had completed what it said was the largest rooftop commercial installation in the UK, with this being the 21,000 solar panel installation at the Port of Hull.

The 6.5MW installation was announced in January 2020 by Associated British Ports (ABP), with Custom Solar having won a tender from ABP to help roll out solar projects across three years in 2017.

The staff and senior management team of Custom Solar, including managing director Matthew Brailsford, are now to join Mitie to help drive the business forward.

Simon Venn, managing director, Technical Services, Mitie, said: “Custom Solar’s expertise in large scale commercial solar deployments, combined with Mitie’s high voltage connection and project management expertise, will enable us to offer end-to-end renewable power generation at scale. With our client base including national brands, public sector organisations and critical infrastructure providers, this is yet another element of our support to help decarbonise Britain.”