We have advised ICA Group (ICA), a UK-based, multi-disciplinary group of specialist businesses delivering inspection, building control, and compliance services, on joining CERTANIA’s Buildings & Infrastructure Segment, who bring together specialist companies supporting building safety, regulatory assurance and compliance across the built environment.
ICA Group strengthens CERTANIA’s UK and Ireland Buildings & Infrastructure platform alongside the existing CERTANIA companies BB7 (our team were the adviser of BGF’s portfolio company BB7 on its sale to Certania Group), as well as Clarke Banks and Xact Consultancy and Training - further expanding the Group’s capabilities in building safety, regulatory assurance and compliance.
ICA Group comprises several individual businesses that have decades of collective experience working on a diverse portfolio of construction projects for clients across all regions of the UK these include Cook Brown Building Control Ltd Hickton Quality Control Morgan Lambert Qualitas Compliance and Align Building Control.
ICA brings together specialist capabilities across four core service streams: quality site inspection (Clerk of Works / NEC supervision), building control, gas & electrical auditing (particularly in social housing), and building regulation and fire safety consultancy - supporting clients across the UK construction sector with a strong focus on safe, compliant and high-quality project delivery.
With ICA joining the group, CERTANIA continues to develop its UK Buildings & Infrastructure platform, bringing together complementary expertise to support clients in an environment shaped by increasing requirements for regulatory assurance, building safety and compliance. The addition of ICA broadens CERTANIA’s service coverage across the building lifecycle and strengthens its ability to support clients with trusted assurance services in essential areas of the built environment.
ICA Group will continue to operate with its established teams and client-focused approach. The partnership is designed to support ICA’s next phase of development while preserving the culture, processes and service quality that have underpinned the company’s growth to date.
More about the process
Our M&A team played a central role in shaping the transaction from the outset taking the time to understand the objectives of all shareholders and designing the process accordingly. It was very important to the management team to deliver a partner that was supportive of managements growth plan whilst also retaining the businesses’ unique culture and excellent reputation for client service.
We took the lead on developing an M&A pipeline to support ICA’s growth strategy and enhance positioning, contributing to the overall narrative and buyer conviction.
Certania ultimately emerged as the preferred bidder and our M&A team were able to negotiate an impressive outcome for our client with management having the ideal partner to support the next phase of their journey whilst delivering a strong exit for CEPS PLC and Macaulay Capital.
