Arcus is an independent fund manager of long-term investments in European infrastructure and acquired the majority stake in the business through its Arcus European Infrastructure Fund 3 (AEIF3) from Workdry’s family owners and management, who remain minority shareholders.

Workdry operates through trading brands Selwood and Siltbuster and serves customers across the water utility, large-scale infrastructure and construction sectors, with its assets critical to managing the maintenance lifecycle of the UK’s water infrastructure network, supporting the UK’s wastewater treatment network through periods of high demand and maintenance, and for general water displacement needs related to large-scale infrastructure and construction projects.

The Travers Smith team was led by Infrastructure Finance Partner Ben Thompson with support from Senior Associate Jason Larkins, Associates Adam Schnider, Sophie Tenn and Storme Paul-Christian, and Paralegal Melinda Karva.

Partner Ben Thompson commented: "This transaction represents a further example of our growing lender-side infrastructure finance practice, where we were able to draw on our considerable experience of advising infrastructure participants across a wide range of industry sectors. We are pleased to have supported the Lenders on this exciting and strategic acquisition by Arcus."

Ben Thompson joined Travers Smith in September 2021, bringing a wide range of experience advising on infrastructure finance transactions where he has acted for both funders and sponsors on some of the largest and most complex recent infrastructure transactions in the European market. His addition to the firm's cross-practice Infrastructure Sector Group strengthened the firm's existing capabilities and has resulted in the firm working on a wider array of infrastructure financings.

Arcus was advised by Macfarlanes.