Osborne Clarke advises Empower Group on its initial fundraise and first acquisition
Published on 25th June 2025
International legal practice Osborne Clarke has advised the Empower Group, on its initial fundraise and inaugural partnership with Circle Control and Design Systems Limited. This partnership strengthens Empower's presence in the water sector and supports its ambition for growth.
Founded in 2025 by Nicholas Manning, Denis Piffaretti, Florian Kronawitter, Empower's mission is to build a market leader in UK technical services to better serve commercial and industrial clients.
With Circle being the first member of the Empower Group, this partnership marks a significant step for both organisations. For Circle, it provides a platform to build on the impressive growth achieved to date, while enhancing its service offering to clients. For Empower, the partnership strengthens its presence in the water sector and supports its ambition to diversify into adjacent verticals.
Empower CEO, Nick Manning, commented: "From the outset, we aimed high for our first partnership, and Circle has exceeded those expectations. Gavin and his team have built an exceptional business, and we're excited to support their continued success in a market full of potential."
“Seamus and his team’s support through this process was pivotal to deliver on the accelerated timescale for both the fundraise and partnership with Circle. Their unique approach to high volume M&A, spearheaded by Mary, is second to none and their level of commercial understanding allowed us to lean on them for additional bandwidth across the transaction.”
The Osborne Clarke team was led by Corporate Partner, Seamus McKimm and assisted by Corporate Senior Associate, Mary Hughes and Associate, Rachel Barbour.
"We are proud to have supported Nick and the entire Empower team on achieving this milestone as they join forces with Circle. We are looking forward to supporting Empower as they continue to grow and implement their M&A strategy. Our team's innovative and efficient approach to buy-and-build M&A transactions, coupled with our sector knowledge, played a key role in achieving this successful outcome for our client."
Osborne Clarke advises some of the best and brightest businesses across the energy transition and utilities sectors. It is widely recognised for its corporate expertise in this dynamic market, working with clients ranging from global businesses to fast-growth start-ups and market challengers. The team provides advice at every stage of company development across all corporate issues, including equity and debt fundraisings, M&A, IPOs, JVs and corporate reorganisations.
