New Mountain Combines Azuria and Inframark in $2.5B Water Platform Build

New Mountain Capital has completed the combination of Azuria Water Solutions and Inframark, creating a scaled, tech-enabled platform expected to generate more than $2.5 billion in revenue across the U.S. water ecosystem.

The transaction is backed by funds managed by New Mountain, including a newly raised $2.4 billion single-asset continuation vehicle and its flagship New Mountain Partners VII. The continuation vehicle was co-led by HarbourVest Partners and an undisclosed institutional investor, with additional participation from pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and family offices.

New Mountain initially partnered with the businesses in 2020 and 2021, respectively. “These companies embody our approach to business building, which has included commercial strategy revitalization, talent and career path development, AI-enabled technology investments, and an M&A strategy based upon being the ‘acquiror of choice,’” said Joe Delgado and Lars Johansson, managing directors at New Mountain, in a joint statement.

The combined entity targets a U.S. municipal water services market estimated by New Mountain at more than $115 billion. Azuria’s expertise in water and wastewater pipeline rehabilitation will be integrated with Inframark’s treatment plant operations to address critical infrastructure challenges, including inflow and infiltration and non-revenue water losses—issues that the American Society of Civil Engineers estimates cost U.S. cities more than $100 billion annually.

As part of the recapitalization, approximately 450 shareholders—including 340 non-executive employees—will receive proceeds through an equity ownership program, underscoring New Mountain’s focus on broad-based value creation.

New Mountain, which manages roughly $60 billion across private equity, strategic equity, credit, and net lease real estate strategies.