Making water work
Lakers Group at a glance
Lakers is a North European aftermarket service provider of maintenance, service, rental, and technical consulting of water pumps, pumping stations, electrical motors, and related components. Water pumps serve as a key component in the infrastructure to transport water. Lakers also offers its customers niche products including pressure vessels, water filters and other related products. Lakers has since Summa’s acquisition in October 2018 grown into a market leader in the Nordics and has recently started its expansion into the UK and Germany, with the ambition to become a leading Northern European player. Today, Lakers operates through 22 entities in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, the UK, and Germany.
- Year acquired
- 2018
- Sector
- Water Infrastructure
- Location
- Norway
- Website
- http://lakers.no
- Investment theme
- Resource Efficiency
Key developments in 2020
Despite Covid-19, Lakers has performed well during 2020, achieving organic growth of 3%, supported by resilient demand amongst public customers and critical investments in water infrastructure. In 2020, Lakers has worked with a range of initiatives to drive organic value creation and geographic expansion. The company has initiated cross-selling across the group and has further professionalized the platform by strengthening the group function and implementing a new IT system to become more data-driven. Lakers has successfully executed on M&A, acquiring two new companies under 2020, and reached a new milestone by entering Germany. Lakers has continued the strong momentum into 2021, where Lakers reached yet another milestone by entering the UK through the acquisition of Pump Supplies. Lakers has a continued strong pipeline ahead with a focus on expansion in Northern Europe.
Impact dimensions
The challenges we face
The water infrastructure in Northern Europe is aging and underinvested with large inefficiencies. Population growth, urbanization and a changing climate continue to put pressure on water systems. Alongside increasing regulatory standards, this will drive the need for maintenance and upgrades. Pumps account for approximately 10% of the world’s total electricity consumption and about 90% of these works inefficiently. If all pumps were switched to high-efficiency ones, this could save 4% of global electricity consumption1 and reduce yearly water supply loss.
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4%
of global electricity consumption could be saved if all pumps were switched to high-efficiency pumps
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31%
yearly water supply loss in Norway. More efficient pumps can play a part in reducing this gap.
What is the outcome?
Lakers plays a key role in improving the infrastructure in Northern Europe (SDG 9) by solving challenges within the water systems. Well-working water systems are critical to ensure clean water and sanitation in our society (SDG 6). Furthermore, by servicing pumps and increasing their energy efficiency, Lakers could help save a large amount of energy consumed.
Who are the stakeholders?
Lakers provides critical services for Public and Private customers in Northern Europe, such as municipalities, businesses, and private individuals.
How big is the effect, and does it last?
In 2020, Lakers sold nearly 8 300 and serviced over 14 200 pumps, ensuring a safe and stable supply of water for its customers. Demand for Lakers’ services is considered resilient given the critical nature of the business.
If Lakers Group didn’t exist…
In the Nordic market, there are few players of Lakers’ size and with its capacity and capabilities. Lakers has an unmatched competence level and is a trusted natural go-to partner for professional advice for many of its public customers. Lakers is increasingly expanding its footprint outside the Nordics with the ambition to become a leading North European competence house within water pumps. Lack of Lakers’ services could imply a lower supply of critical service and upgrades in the region it is located, potentially resulting in an increased number of breakdowns and a deteriorated state of the water infrastructure.
Impact risk: what can go wrong?
Lakers’ footprint mainly comes from metals and the manufacture of parts and products used or sold by the company. Obtaining a full overview of the impact of the supply chain is challenging, and thus, there is a risk of not fully accounting for the consequential impact of this part of the value chain.
ESC Goals
Lakers have recently committed to a set of ESG goals. Among the social targets, they aim to work towards a more equal workforce in their organization. Lakers’ primary climate goal is to decrease their impact on Scope 1 & 2 GHG emissions. Specifically, they aim to increase their share of renewable energy sources (Scope 2) with the long-term ambition for all facilities to use 100% renewable electricity. The goals will be tracked and reported in an annual Sustainability Report.