{"id":533203,"date":"2025-11-24T11:40:25","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T11:40:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/?p=533203"},"modified":"2025-11-24T15:02:34","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T15:02:34","slug":"octavius-deal-pushes-rsk-into-infrastructure-sector","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/financial\/ma\/octavius-deal-pushes-rsk-into-infrastructure-sector-24-11-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Octavius deal pushes RSK deeper into infrastructure sector"},"content":{"rendered":"

Environmental and engineering services conglomerate RSK Group has deepened its footprint in the infrastructure sector after announcing the acquisition of civils contractor Octavius.<\/p>\n

In a statement today (24 November), RSK said the addition of Octavius marked a \u201cpivotal step\u201d to deepen its presence in the transport infrastructure sector.<\/p>\n

\u201cInfrastructure is one of RSK\u2019s core strategic growth markets and, in Octavius, we have found a large, well-established business with a proven track record in safety-critical infrastructure delivery,\u201d said RSK founder and chief executive Alan Ryder.<\/p>\n

The firm said infrastructure \u2013 especially the water sector \u2013 represented 14 per cent of its total revenue and was its fastest-growing segment, rising by 36 per cent year on year.<\/p>\n

RSK did not disclose the financial terms of the deal to buy Octavius from private equity firm Sullivan Street Partners.<\/p>\n

Octavius \u2013 ranked 61st<\/sup> in the latest CN100 table of top contractors<\/a> \u2013 posted turnover of \u00a3276.7m and a pre-tax profit of \u00a34.7m in its most recent accounts<\/a> for the year to 31 March 2025.<\/p>\n

The firm employed a monthly average of 684 staff.<\/p>\n

Its chief executive John Dowsett will remain in post under RSK\u2019s ownership.<\/p>\n

Octavius has rapidly scaled up its operations since\u00a0its creation in 2021<\/a>\u00a0following the sale of Geoffrey Osborne\u2019s rail and highways division to private equity firm Sullivan Street.<\/p>\n

RSK said Octavius has a \u201crich portfolio\u201d of more than 30 frameworks. It mainly operates in the road and rail sectors for clients such as National Highways and Network Rail, for which it was the eighth-biggest contractor<\/a> in 2024\/25.<\/p>\n

Rail projects include the Southern Renewals Enterprise for Electrification and Plant for Network Rail and the M25 Lifecycle and Call-off Framework Agreement for Connect Plus.<\/p>\n

Other ongoing jobs include the construction of new railway stations at Okehampton and Charfield, the A46 Walsgrave Junction Upgrade, the construction of a new link road in Colchester and the completion of the newly opened A140 Long Stratton Bypass.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month<\/a>, Octavius also won a place on the \u00a31bn YORcivil Major Works 2 Contractors Framework Agreement from Sheffield City Council.<\/p>\n

In its most recent annual report for the year to 6 April 2025, released last month, RSK generated a pre-tax loss of \u00a3124.5m from turnover of \u00a32.24bn, although construction contracting was responsible for less than a third (\u00a3639.5m)<\/a> of total revenue.<\/p>\n

The group owns more than 200 companies and employs over 17,000 people.<\/p>\n

RSK attributed the loss to amortisation and debt interest payments, with its interim chief financial officer Frank Herlihy insisting financial performance had been strong.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cRSK continues to invest heavily in business growth, both organically and through acquisitions, to deliver long-term value creation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has been essential as we further enhance the group\u2019s capabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

RSK\u2019s swoop for Octavius reflects a trend towards infrastructure mergers and acquisitions over the past 12 months or so.<\/p>\n

Vinci acquired FM Conway<\/a> in February to reinforce its capabilities in the UK roads sector, alongside existing divisions Eurovia and Ringway. And earlier this month, Irish contractor John Sisk & Son completed its purchase of Farrans Construction<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Construction News <\/em>in October<\/a>, Mani Singh, risk and surety adviser at Tryg Trade, said the scale of investment outlined in the \u00a3725bn National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority pipeline will attract M&A interest \u201cfrom construction names who hold sizeable, related schemes in their portfolios\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Environmental and engineering services conglomerate RSK Group has deepened its footprint in the infrastructure sector after announcing the acquisition of civils contractor Octavius. In a statement today (24 November), RSK said the addition of Octavius marked a \u201cpivotal step\u201d to deepen its presence in the transport infrastructure sector. \u201cInfrastructure is one of RSK\u2019s core strategic …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":135716,"featured_media":455853,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[549,553],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-533203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-civils","category-ma"],"yoast_head":"\nOctavius deal pushes RSK deeper into infrastructure sector | Construction News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Environmental and engineering services conglomerate RSK Group has deepened its footprint in the infrastructure sector after announcing the acquisition of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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