GEV Wind Power

GEV Wind Power (“GEV”), a global specialist services provider to the wind energy industry, has been acquired by Certek in a deal led by our Corporate Finance team.

Based in East Yorkshire, GEV provides inspection, monitoring, rope-access and maintenance services to on-and offshore wind turbines across the globe. GEV’s client base includes the world’s biggest OEMs and wind farm operators and is the recognised market leader in the blade services niche. GEV has been backed by Bridges Fund Management (Bridges) since June 2019.

GEV supports its clients through its operational hubs in North America, UK & Europe and Australia, deploying in-field technicians who support the owners of thousands of wind turbines across four continents. The company executes more than 300 individual projects annually with its specialist pool of more than 500 technicians.

Our corporate finance team, led by Partner Dave Howes and supported by Partner Ryan Symonds, Director Alex Hunton and Manager Liam Merritt, were appointed sell-side advisers to the shareholders, including Bridges, based on the team’s strong credentials within the energy sector and previous transaction experience with GEV. The team completed a thorough marketing and sales process which attracted the attention of numerous potential industry buyers as well as private equity acquirers. Certek stood out due to their ambitious growth plans and strong strategic synergy. Once selected as a preferred partner, the team helped structure the deal and project manage the process through to a successful completion.

Certek is employee owned and was founded in 2024 by David Harrison with a mission to partner with quality businesses that have a strong compliance, safety and regulatory element to their service offering. Certek’s investment will enable GEV to grow across its core markets, continuing to support the transition to a clean energy economy. Certek is backing GEV’s CEO and founder David Fletcher and the existing management team who have led the expansion of the Group into the market leader over the past 15 years.

Following its acquisition of GEV, Certek’s group revenue will surpass £100 million on a pro-forma basis with a pipeline of other deals in process.

This transaction marks the third deal completed by our corporate finance team for GEV, having previously advised the shareholders of GEV on an investment from Maven Capital Partners in 2015, and advised the management team through the exit of Maven, and secondary investment by Bridges in 2019.

Dave Howes, Partner at FRP Corporate Finance said: “We are delighted to have supported GEV on their latest transaction to Certek. Having worked with GEV and the management team for over 10 years, it has been fantastic to see the business evolve into a truly global market leading service provider in the wind energy industry. The investment by Certek will enable GEV to continue their growth and innovation in the sector.”      

David Fletcher, CEO of GEV, said: “Our business plays a critical role in supporting the generation of clean energy, as we actively maintain the operational performance of wind turbines and help to reduce downtime. With Certek’s backing, we will continue to increase our support infrastructure for our clients and play an active part in supply chain solutions, focusing on the consistent delivery of quality and safety that our clients demand across all key geographies where we operate.”

David continued: “It has been a pleasure to work with Dave, Ryan and Alex on this transaction. Their knowledge of GEV and the renewable energy sector, together with their senior led, hands on approach has been a key differentiator and why we chose to use the team again for this particular transaction. This helped to ensure a highly competitive and successful process, delivering a positive outcome for all parties.”

Additional sell-side advisers included Pinsent Masons (legal support to the shareholders), Squire Patton Boggs (legal support to management), GNEISS Energy (market advisory), Ernst & Young (vendor financial due diligence) and Brinckmann (commercial due diligence).