Keepmoat is a leading developer of low-cost, affordable housing in the UK. It typically develops brownfield land in partnership with local authorities, delivering high-quality homes primarily for private sale. At the time of our initial investment, Keepmoat also had a Regeneration business focused on refurbishment and maintenance services for social housing in the UK, underpinned by long-term contracts with local authorities.
Initial investment
2014
Sector
Consumer Services
Initial transaction size
£365m
We had gained a strong understanding of the UK housing sector through prior investments and, in Keepmoat, saw a platform with a leading position in social housing maintenance and partnership housebuilding but where growth had been constrained by its capital structure.
The business operated in a market with strong structural tailwinds – a significant shortage of affordable homes in the UK and sustained demand from first-time buyers. We saw a clear opportunity to unlock growth by scaling the Homes division into a national housebuilder through an attractive capital-light “partnership” model. At the same time, we were also attracted to the market leading position of the Regeneration business, with high revenue visibility and cash generation to support this growth.
We strengthened the leadership team with new a CEO, CFO and Chairman, while promoting divisional leaders from within. A centralised pricing strategy, enhanced cost control and continued focus on build quality drove margin expansion and earned the business a five-star builder rating.
We expanded Keepmoat’s footprint from four to nine regions in the UK, more than doubling delivery capacity, and transforming Keepmoat from a regional operator into a leading national affordable housebuilder.
In 2017, we sold the Regeneration division to ENGIE for £330 million, de-risking the investment and enabling management to focus fully on the higher-returning Homes business.
We transformed the business into one of the UK’s leading affordable housebuilders, with revenue and profitability of the Homes business increasing substantially between 2014 and our exit to Aermont Capital in 2021.