The Riverside Company sells Hiway Group to Direct Capital after doubling revenue & EBITDA

Written by PR Newswire

SYDNEY, Feb. 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Riverside Company ^[1] (Riverside), a global private investment firm focused on the smaller end of the middle market, has sold one of Australasia's leading specialist transport infrastructure services providers Hiway Group ^[2] (Hiway) to NZ private equity firm Direct Capital ^[3].

Simon Feiglin, Managing Partner, Riverside Australia Fund

Since the 2018 acquisition, Riverside aided in significantly expanding Hiway's operations across Australia and helped it to diversify from a primary focus on roading infrastructure to include the rehabilitation of pavements in the rail, renewables, mining, and defence segments.

Throughout this growth, Hiway maintained a strong environmental focus by recycling and reusing existing earthwork materials, which, in conjunction with other techniques, lowers carbon emissions when compared to alternative methods.

For almost 40 years, Hiway has been delivering innovative and environmentally-friendly capital projects, maintenance recycling and reuse solutions for roads, rail, ports, airports, and renewable energy infrastructure.

Its impressive recent growth reflects the buoyancy of domestic infrastructure spending and, in particular, the need across all levels of government to improve the condition of transport infrastructure assets, especially as the population continues to grow.

Recognising and capitalising on these systemic market growth drivers is another example of Riverside's expertise in the business services industry, a specialist area where it has made more than 350 platform and add-on company investments since 1988.

Steven Spiteri, Operating Partner at The Riverside Company, said: "We're incredibly proud of our accomplishments at Hiway in partnership with the management team. Riverside supported the build out of a scale presence in Australia while diversifying into adjacent end-markets and exploring new technical innovations."

Nicholas Pejnovic, Principal at The Riverside Company, said: "Hiway is another wonderful example of Riverside successfully partnering with a great business and great team to drive results. We're very pleased with the outcome here, with Hiway's EBITDA and revenue doubling."

Peter Metcalfe, CEO at Hiway Group, said: "The Hiway team has had a fantastic experience partnering with Riverside to accelerate growth and develop Hiway into the leading in situ recycling player in the Australasian infrastructure market. We're delighted with the result."

The Riverside Australia Fund first acquired Hiway from Direct Capital in 2018.

Working on the deal for Riverside alongside Spiteri and Pejnovic was Associate Tom Hermsen.

MA Moelis Australia acted as financial advisor for Hiway on the transaction, with Russell McVeagh providing legal guidance, KPMG advising on accounting, and Deloitte advising on tax matters.

The Riverside Company (www.riversidecompany.com ^[4]) is a global investment firm focused on being one of the leading private capital and credit options for business owners and portfolio companies at the smaller end of the middle market by seeking to fuel transformative growth and create lasting value. Since its founding in 1988, Riverside has made more than 1,000 investments. The firm's international private equity and flexible capital portfolios include more than 140 companies. For more information, visit www.riversidecompany.com ^[5].

Riverside Australia invests in Australian and New Zealand-based companies with last twelve months (LTM) earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of up to AU$25 million.

The Hiway Group (www.hiwaygroup.com.au ^[6]) is one of Australasia's largest providers of specialist solutions for ground improvement. Since establishment in New Zealand in 1986, Hiway has built a reputation for delivering high quality and technically innovative solutions for its clients by pioneering a wide range of in-situ and ex-situ pavement recycling and reuse techniques.

Headquartered in Auckland, the Group has a comprehensive footprint across Australia and New Zealand delivering capital projects and maintenance recycling and reuse solutions for roads, rail, ports, airports and renewable energy infrastructure. All this is supported by an industry recognised Professional Services team and with a sector leading health and safety performance to complement its capabilities, the Hiway Group is pioneering added client value in Transport Infrastructure.