EQT has agreed to acquire a 42% stake in Kelda Holdings, the parent company of Yorkshire Water, through its Active Core Infrastructure strategy.

The investment positions EQT as a major shareholder in one of the UK’s largest regional water utilities, which provides water and wastewater services to approximately 5.5m people across the Yorkshire region. The company supplies more than two million households and around 140,000 businesses. 

Yorkshire Water operates nearly 700 treatment works, 120 reservoirs, and more than 83,000 km of water mains infrastructure. The transaction comes as the UK water sector enters a new regulatory investment cycle following the latest price review.

EQT has committed to providing additional equity to strengthen the company’s balance sheet and support Yorkshire Water’s largest ever environmental investment programme. The utility plans to invest £8.3bn between 2025 and 2030 to upgrade infrastructure, improve environmental performance, and enhance service quality.

The programme is also expected to support more than 1,000 new jobs across the region.

“We believe that as a responsible private capital manager, EQT can play an important role in modernizing the UK’s water infrastructure, and the Company’s multi-year investment plan reflects that objective,” Kunal Koya, Partner at EQT Infrastructure, said in a statement. “Together with Yorkshire Water’s existing investors, we will support the sector’s reform agenda and deliver service improvements for customers across the region and transparency for all stakeholders.”

The investment builds on EQT’s track record in water infrastructure and environmental assets, including investments in SAUR and Seven Seas Water Group.

The transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals, including antitrust clearance.

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