Dunfermline-headquartered M&C has been bought by Schneider Electric, a French energy management company. While the purchase price is undisclosed, a source close to the deal has revealed that the figure is around £90 million.

Under its three years of private equity ownership M&C acquired five ‘complementary’ businesses in the UK, Germany, Hungary, the US and Australia. It has grown its corporate client tally from 50 to 700.

Mark Dickinson, CEO of M&C Energy Group, comments, ‘During the last three years, Lyceum Capital has been the ideal growth partner, providing strategic input and organic and acquisitive growth, which have contributed significantly to us becoming the largest provider of outsourced energy management.’

Dickinson says that M&C is now looking to capitalise on its position and create a ‘global force’ in the energy advisory sector.

As well as growing its corporate client list under Lyceum’s tenure, M&C has also seen its employee count rise from 367 to 500 and now manages $12 billion of energy spend for its clients.

Dan Adler, partner at Lyceum and lead on the deal, adds, ‘This deal is the result of successful collaboration with an experienced and highly ambitious management team to introduce key operational enhancements and implement a rapid consolidation programme.

‘This has transformed M&C from a family-owned business into the largest outsourced energy management business in Europe and a hugely attractive strategic asset.’

Following the deal, Schneider Electric, which has described the acquisition as a ‘bolt-on deal’, will combine the operations of M&C with those of Summit Energy, a North American-headquartered energy procurement and advisory business.

The sale of M&C marks the 17th of the year for Lyceum Capital on the back of 12 add-on acquisitions for portfolio companies and four new platform investments, including business management company Access, food retailer EAT, services firm Adapt and security software business Clearswift.