Earthstream
EarthStream Global is an international staffing business with offices in UK, Germany, Spain, Singapore, South Africa and USA. It focuses on finding permanent staff and contractor resource for clients operating in the natural resources, clean energy and power transmission markets.
Key has helped us implement effective solutions and strategies to move our business forward.
Working with Earthstream...
Investment process
We invested £2 million in March 2013. The commodities boom and emergence of clean energy were driving strong demand for talent in the resources and energy sectors. This, coupled with an ageing workforce, fuelled a strong demand for staffing services. Our funds were required to support the accelerated growth of Earthstream.
Growth process
Our investment initially enabled the business to invest in staff, new offices and the IT platforms to support the rapid growth trajectory. Additionally, we supplemented the senior management team, including recruitment of a CFO. Unfortunately, during our partnership with Earthstream, the oil and gas and commodities sectors were negatively affected by falling prices and as such the business needed to refocus on more stable and emerging markets, including clean energy. We supported the team through these challenges.
Exit process
We fully exited EarthStream when the group merged with two other staffing business in early 2020 to form TechStream Group. This new international staffing group was funded by equity investment from Universal Partners and bank facilities from Investec plc. The transaction resulted in a positive investment return for Key funds.