Macquarie Capital acquires 50 per cent interest in Environmental Monitoring Business Brüel & Kjær

• Macquarie Capital to establish JV with Spectris plc, a leading instrumentation and controls company, in relation to EMS B&K
• EMS B&K provides environmental monitoring solutions to the infrastructure, mining and other industries
• First investment in infrastructure technology sector, a new focus area for Macquarie Capital

Macquarie Capital, the corporate advisory, capital markets and principal investing arm of Macquarie Group, today announced that it is entering into an agreement with Spectris plc (Spectris), a leading supplier of productivity-enhancing instrumentation and controls, to acquire 50 per cent of Spectris’ environmental monitoring business subsidiary EMS B&K.

EMS B&K is a global market leader in continuous environmental monitoring, offering solutions that enable real-time compliance and improve the operational efficiency of companies subject to environmental constraints such as maximum sound, vibration and dust levels. Examples include noise monitoring of airports and wind farms, as well as dust, noise and vibration monitoring of mines and construction sites, particularly in urban areas. EMS B&K’s operations are headquartered in Melbourne, Australia and span Europe, US, Latin America and Asia.

The combination of increased environmental regulation, greater public awareness and urbanisation is creating significant focus on environmental monitoring services for most infrastructure projects as well as operating assets. With improvements in technology, continuous monitoring is now a reliable and cost effective solution that not only enables greater transparency, but also provides valuable data which EMS B&K and its clients use to optimise business operations within their environmental constraints.

With the establishment of the joint venture Macquarie and Spectris are looking to accelerate the company’s growth by responding to the increasing demand for environmental monitoring services. EMS B&K seeks to offer new products and expand its sales and services teams to widen its geographical footprint, including in developing countries.

Patrick Sieb, Executive Director at Macquarie Capital said: “We recognise the increasing importance of environmental monitoring for infrastructure projects, including those in which we are involved. We spent some time examining industry players in this space. What impressed us most about EMS B&K was its strategic approach to working with clients to first understand their growth objectives and then create a compelling end-to-end solution for them. EMS B&K’s impressive blue chip global client list is a clear demonstration of the value they bring. Our aim is to use Macquarie’s significant reach across infrastructure markets to accelerate this growth.”

Daniel Wong, Global Co-Head of the Energy and Infrastructure group within Macquarie Capital said: “This investment is an integral part of Macquarie Capital’s focus on technology applying to infrastructure (InfraTech). This is a recognition that a number of technologies can now bring significant benefit in the construction, operation and maintenance of infrastructure assets. Macquarie looks to leverage its presence in the infrastructure sector and knowledge of technology to take a leading position in this space and we see this new venture with EMS as a first step into this fast growing market.”

Commenting on the transaction, John O'Higgins, Spectris Chief Executive, said: "We are delighted to partner with Macquarie Capital. This joint venture creates a significant opportunity for us to collaborate on the industrial internet of things. We look forward to a successful working relationship with Macquarie Capital to deliver this."

This transaction is conditional on obtaining appropriate regulatory approvals in relevant jurisdictions.

About Spectris plc

Spectris plc is a leading supplier of productivity-enhancing instrumentation and controls. The Company's products and technologies help customers to improve product quality and performance, improve core manufacturing processes, reduce downtime and wastage and reduce time to market. Its global customer base spans a diverse range of end user markets. Spectris operates across four business segments which reflect the applications and industries it serves: Materials Analysis, Test and Measurement, In-line Instrumentation and Industrial Controls. Headquartered in Egham, Surrey, United Kingdom, the Company employs approximately 9,000 people located in more than 30 countries. For more information, visit www.spectris.com