Good morning, Nina Lindholm here with the Europe Wire from the London newsroom. Facilities management has many appealing qualities for private equity: recurring demand and protection from disruption caused by AI. Alpine Investors is betting on the sector with its first platform investment in the UK – the firm is launching Eight Group, a business combining mechanical and electrical and select subspecialty providers.

The UK hard facilities market is large and growing, roughly £24 billion, expanding more than 5 percent annually as safety and environmental regulation increases and the UK's building stock ages. Eight Group brings together MV Lifts, Enertech, KCE FM, DPP, Irwin M&E and four other businesses to form the platform, serving more than 5,000 clients, employing over 1,000 people and generating annualized revenue of more than £200 million.

Alpine's Fund IX, a $4.5 billion vehicle, backs the platform. M&A will be an important part of Eight Group's growth, with Alpine targeting businesses generating around £8 million or more in revenue and £1 million or more in EBITDA. The ambition is to build a leading technical services group that combines the responsiveness and entrepreneurship of great local businesses with the technology, talent, capabilities and resources of a larger group.