First Reserve sells Aquilex(2)

First Reserve, the US-based private equity energy specialist, is selling Aquilex, an energy service provider, to New York-based private equity firm Harvest Partners for an undisclosed sum

Georgia-based Aquilex is an energy service provider that specialises in refining, nuclear and fossil power generation and waste to energy. First Reserve founded Aquilex in November 2001.

In 2005, Aquilex sold off Wheelabrator, its equipment division, to German industrial group Siemens, as it decided to focus exclusively on services. The profit from the sale allowed the company to pay down all of its debt.  It subsequently made a bolt-on acquisition for the services division of GE Energy’s Welding Specialty Services subsidiary.

First Reserve’s recent deals include the sale of Power Well Services to UK-listed Expro International Group for more than $670 million last June.

First Reserve is currently investing from its eleventh fund, which closed last August on $7.8 billion – the largest sector-specific fund ever raised. Founded in 1983, the firm has $12.5 billion under management.

Harvest Partners was founded in 1981 and has more than $1 billion under management.