RSK Group–Octavius Infrastructure deal: integrated rail delivery lens for engineers
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on New Civil Engineer
30 Second Briefing
RSK Group has acquired rail and highways contractor Octavius Infrastructure from Sullivan Street Partners to expand its position in the UK transport infrastructure market. Octavius brings established frameworks with Network Rail and National Highways, covering rail renewals, station upgrades and complex bridge and structures work in constrained possessions. The deal signals more integrated delivery of geotechnical, civils and asset management services across major corridors, with RSK able to fold site investigation, environmental consenting and materials consultancy into multi-disciplinary transport programmes.
Technical Brief
- Acquisition structure involves RSK buying Octavius Infrastructure directly from private equity owner Sullivan Street Partners.
Our Take
Within the 39 Infrastructure stories in our database, UK-focused pieces are heavily weighted towards rail and road upgrades, so RSK Group’s move on Octavius Infrastructure signals an effort to secure a larger slice of that recurring transport workbank rather than one-off megaprojects.
Most of the 94 tag-matched ‘Projects’ and ‘Contract Award’ items involve contractors scaling up via framework positions rather than outright M&A, so this acquisition route by RSK Group suggests a more aggressive consolidation strategy in the UK transport contracting tier.
Sullivan Street Partners’ exit from Octavius Infrastructure via M&A fits a pattern in our coverage where UK mid-market infrastructure contractors are being recycled from private equity ownership into larger engineering groups, typically to bundle specialist delivery capability under broader multi-disciplinary platforms.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
Related Articles
Related Industries & Products
Construction
Quality control software for construction companies with material testing, batch tracking, and compliance management.
Mining
Geotechnical software solutions for mining operations including CMRR analysis, hydrogeological testing, and data management.
HYDROGEO-io
Comprehensive hydrogeological testing platform for managing, analysing, and reporting on packer tests, lugeon values, and hydraulic conductivity assessments.
GEODB-io
Centralised geotechnical data management solution for storing, accessing, and analysing all your site investigation and material testing data.


