Verdane and Scott Capital Partners have partnered to make a significant majority investment in Bluewater Bio through Aquavest, as the investors move to build a multinational platform focused on water and wastewater treatment technologies.
The deal positions Aquavest as the acquiring vehicle and operating platform, with Verdane and Scott Capital Partners providing long-term capital and support for a buy-and-build strategy. The acquisition of Bluewater Bio is described as Aquavest’s first major milestone as it seeks additional targets to expand into a broader group addressing global water and wastewater challenges.
Bluewater Bio, based in London, develops proprietary technology intended to make water reuse operations more efficient and sustainable. The company says its solutions have enabled the reuse of more than 1.8 billion tonnes of treated wastewater, supporting applications such as irrigation, improving river water quality, and enabling communities to “complete the water cycle” more sustainably.
Founded in 2007, Bluewater Bio underwent a management-led restructuring beginning in 2015, after the current leadership team took over, and has since delivered strong growth. The business works with customers across multiple geographies, positioning its technology to deliver reduced energy use, smaller land requirements, and fewer chemical inputs than alternative solutions, aiming to improve both performance and environmental outcomes for water infrastructure operators.
The new ownership group said the next phase will focus on expanding access to Bluewater Bio’s technologies internationally while deepening its offering in existing markets. The strategy emphasizes scaling commercial capabilities without sacrificing sustainability goals, with the platform model designed to keep acquired businesses operationally agile while providing strategic guidance and investment at the holding company level.
The transaction also marks an exit for Salica Investments, which had been the former majority owner of Bluewater Bio and realized its investment as part of the deal. Verdane framed the investment as aligned with its focus on tech-enabled and sustainable businesses that support decarbonization and digitalization across Europe, while noting its broader sustainability positioning, including its B Corporation certification and internal screening approach for climate resilience.
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“Verdane’s experience of partnering with sustainability-focused, science-based businesses makes them an excellent partner for Bluewater Bio along with Aquavest’s specialism and operational expertise. This investment provides the resources and strategic support needed to expand our reach and deepen our impact, while staying true to our mission of enabling more sustainable water reuse worldwide and keeping true to our values of customer care and providing high quality solutions.”
Richard Haddon
“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 and wastewater treatment technology platform. The acquisition of Bluewater Bio is an exciting first milestone and a testament to what this partnership can deliver as we pursue additional acquisitions and accelerate our growth and impact.”
Duncan White
“Bluewater Bio combines strong technological insight with commercially proven solutions that deliver sustainable benefits. We look forward to working with Richard and the wider team along with Aquavest to support the next stage of growth and to help scale the business across further international markets.”
Erik Osmundsen
“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 complimentary 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.”
David Scott
“We want to offer our congratulations to the management team at Bluewater Bio who have done an outstanding job in building a market leader in the water technology space. We are proud of our association with another UK technology leader and pleased to add substantially to the significant returns already generated for Salica Limited Partners.”
Tom Bradley
