Partners Group, a global private markets firm, has acquired North Star, an operator of specialized vessels offering emergency response and rescue and essential offshore wind maintenance services, from Basalt Infrastructure Partners.

North Star is an infrastructure company with a fleet of 48 emergency response and rescue vessels and service operation vessels and 1,400 employees. The firm is a provider of SOVs used to transport technicians to offshore windfarms. The firm looks to benefit from rising demand for SOVs in connection with growth in the offshore wind industry fueled by global decarbonization trends.

“North Star represents an excellent opportunity to acquire a leading energy infrastructure services business that is well-positioned to capitalize on the transformative trends driving growth in the offshore wind industry,” added David Daum, managing director of private infrastructure, Partners Group. “The Company provides mission-critical services and benefits from steady demand due to high barriers to entry and few direct competitors. We have extensive experience in the offshore wind sector and North Star is a great fit for our platform-expansion strategy.”

“We have decades of operating experience and maintain a market-leading position for both ERRVs and SOVs,” commented Matthew Gordon, CEO of North Star. “Looking ahead, servicing the offshore wind industry represents a huge growth opportunity for us as the decarbonization of economies gathers pace. Partners Group’s operational expertise in that industry will be very valuable as we expand into new offshore wind markets in Europe, which are experiencing similar tailwinds to those in the UK.”