3I INFRASTRUCTURE will acquire a controlling stake in equipment rental company SRL Traffic Systems.

It has agreed to buy a 92 per cent stake in the company for £191m.

Management has re-invested to acquire the remaining eight per cent stake.

3i Infrastructure has provided a further £83m of debt financing to SRL, which it will later replace with third party debt.

Cheshire-based company SRL is home to 13,000 items of traffic management equipment, which it rents to local authorities, utilities, contractors and traffic management companies from a nationwide network of depots.

SRL's product range includes temporary traffic lights, adaptive detection systems, pedestrian and cyclist systems, variable messaging systems, barriers and CCTV.

The company has a network of 30 depots nationwide, providing daily services for customers dependent on quick deployment and reactive maintenance work.

It is experiencing strong growth in customer demand driven by an increasing number of roadworks projects, resulting from greater spending on highway maintenance, utilities works and major infrastructure projects.

(c) 2021 City A.M., source Newspaper