Agora Makers buys UK's Acrospire to open its first British base
What's the deal? Agora MakersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the French public-space group majority-owned by private equity firm Hivest Capital PartnersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, has acquired AcrospireDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a British specialist in heritage and solar lighting. The deal value was undisclosed. It gives Agora Makers its first operational presence in the United Kingdom.
Who's the target? Founded in 2012 by Tim Barker and Hatty Stallard, Basingstoke-based Acrospire grew largely organically into a reference name in the British lighting market. It designs and manufactures much of its range in the UK.
What's the endgame? Agora Makers designs and makes public lighting, urban furniture, and connected systems for cities. With Acrospire, it becomes an 11-brand group and gains exposure to English-speaking markets plus deeper expertise in solar lighting.
Why now? Hivest, majority shareholder since its initial investment, is pursuing a strategy to build a European platform for public spaces. The acquisition marks a step in that international expansion.
Acrospire will keep its brand, organisation, and current leadership team while drawing on Agora Makers' resources. The buyer said the tie-up would open "new commercial, industrial and technological development opportunities" for customers across Europe.
Part of a wider push: The Acrospire deal is one of several recent Hivest-backed moves. Days earlier, another portfolio company, The Sphere GroupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, expanded into the industrial film market by acquiring PolyexDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, underlining the firm's active buy-and-build approach.
The signal: European private equity is consolidating fragmented industrial and urban-infrastructure niches into cross-border platforms. By stitching together specialist local brands, Hivest is betting that scale and shared engineering can win the market for sustainable public spaces.
Read more: hivestcapital.com
Image credit: Acrospire
