KKR to buy British smart meter company Calvin Capital

US private equity firm KKR yesterday struck a deal to buy British smart meter company Calvin Capital from infrastructure investor Infracapital, for an undisclosed sum.

The two companies did not disclose financial terms of the deal, which is expected to close at the end of January.

Calvin, based in Manchester, finances the provision and installation of electricity and gas metering meters on behalf of energy suppliers, a market worth about £11 billion ($14 billion).

Since its inception in 2002, the company has financed the procurement and installation of six million domestic meters, investing nearly £600 million.

As a market leading MAP Calvin is ideally positioned to support energy suppliers in meeting their smart meter roll-out obligations and has already secured contracts for over eight million smart meters.

Martin Lennon of Infracapital said, ''Since Infracapital created the Calvin Capital business it has experienced incredible growth to become a leading meter asset provider with significant smart meter contracts secured. This transaction is testament to entrepreneurial spirit and hard work of both the Infracapital and Calvin teams.''

''We are delighted to be partnering with an exceptional business such as Calvin, which benefits from strong market positioning thanks to its exceptional management team, effective asset management and tried, tested & scalable IT systems,'' says, Jesus Olmos, member & global co-head of Infrastructure of KKR.