BDA advises Salica on sale of Bluewater Bio to Verdane and Scott Capital Partners via Aquavest

BDA Partners is pleased to announce that its client, Salica Investments, has sold Bluewater Bio, an award‑winning provider of advanced water & wastewater treatment technologies, to Verdane, a European growth impact fund, and Scott Capital Partners, via Aquavest, a global water tech platform.

Bluewater Bio works with clients across geographies including the UK and Middle East, helping them improve efficiency and performance of their water infrastructures, while improving environmental impact. Its solutions use less energy, less land, and fewer chemicals than competing technologies.

Verdane, Scott Capital Partners and Aquavest will partner with Bluewater Bio’s management team to support the company’s next phase of development, broadening access to its technology and offering. The partnership will accelerate growth across existing markets and internationally, building on Bluewater Bio’s commercial capabilities, while preserving the company’s approach to sustainability.

Salica Investments acquired a majority stake in Bluewater Bio in December 2020. The sale of Bluewater Bio increases the realized MOIC on the Salica Environmental Technologies Fund above 3x.

BDA Partners acted as financial advisor to Salica and management. Terms were not disclosed.

Richard Haddon, CEO of Bluewater Bio, said: “Verdane’s experience partnering with sustainability‑focused, science‑based businesses makes them an excellent partner for Bluewater Bio, alongside Aquavest’s specialism and operational expertise. This investment provides the resources and strategic support needed to expand our reach and deepen impact, while staying true to our mission of enabling sustainable water reuse worldwide.”

Duncan White, Managing Director of Aquavest, said: “With the combined support of Verdane and Scott Capital Partners, we’ve been able to move decisively on our strategy to build a multinational water & wastewater treatment tech platform. The acquisition of Bluewater Bio is an exciting first milestone and demonstrates what this partnership can achieve, as we pursue acquisitions and accelerate our growth and impact.”

Erik Osmundsen, Partner at Verdane, said: “Bluewater Bio combines technological insight with commercially proven solutions to deliver sustainable benefits. We look forward to working with the team and with Aquavest to support the next stage of growth and scale the business across international markets.”

David Scott, Founder and Managing Partner of Scott Capital Partners, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Verdane to create Aquavest Technologies. We look forward to continuing to work with both the Verdane and Bluewater Bio teams to support the next stage of growth at Bluewater Bio and to identify complementary acquisition targets to build a multinational wastewater treatment technology platform. We are excited to be working with these partners in a critical and high growth sector for the benefit of our clients and from a sustainable perspective.” 

Tom Bradley, Managing Partner at Salica, said: “We want to offer congratulations to the management team at Bluewater Bio who have done an outstanding job, building a market leader in the water technology space. We’re proud of our association with another UK technology leader, and pleased to add substantially to the significant returns already generated for Salica’s Limited Partners.”

Jonathan Aiken, Head of London at BDA Partners, said: “This transaction highlights BDA’s strong sustainability practice, including water technologies and services, in the UK and internationally. BDA’s sector understanding and global reach were instrumental in finding the right partner for Bluewater Bio.”