UK biogas producer and anaerobic digestion (AD) developer Future Biogas has acquired the remaining 49% stake in a portfolio of six gas-to-grid AD facilities from Foresight Environmental Infrastructure Limited (FGEN) for £104 million, securing full ownership of the plants.
The transaction was announced by infrastructure investment company 3i Infrastructure plc, which backs Future Biogas. Future Biogas acquired its initial 51% stake in the portfolio in August 2024, and the latest deal simplifies the ownership structure and gives the company greater control over future investment and operational decisions.
Future Biogas plans to use full ownership to advance identified growth opportunities across the facilities, including capacity expansions and operational improvements. The company said the portfolio’s earnings had increased since it took majority ownership in 2024.
According to the announcement, EBITDA across the six plants grew by approximately 21% following the initial acquisition. The £104 million consideration is consistent with 3i Infrastructure’s September 2026 valuation expectations for the plants within Future Biogas.
Full ownership to accelerate plant expansion and operational improvements
The acquisition is expected to give Future Biogas greater flexibility to implement investment plans across the six facilities. The identified opportunities include expanding capacity, improving plant operations and optimising production.
By consolidating ownership, the company will also simplify decision-making around future investment and active management, while retaining greater flexibility over a potential future exit.
Philipp Lukas, chief executive officer of Future Biogas, said:
“We are very pleased to be acquiring full ownership of the six plants, which we know well having developed and operated them over many years. Since taking majority ownership in 2024, we have delivered significant improvements in operational performance and identified further opportunities to increase capacity and optimise production. Full ownership will allow us to progress these investments more quickly, unlocking further growth and strengthening Future Biogas’s position as a leading owner, developer and operator of anaerobic digestion plants in the UK.”
The transaction builds on Future Biogas’s existing role as a developer and operator of anaerobic digestion plants in the UK. Gas-to-grid AD facilities process organic feedstocks to produce biogas, which is upgraded to biomethane for injection into the gas network.
3i Infrastructure outlines funding and refinancing plans
The £104 million acquisition will initially be funded through an equity commitment from 3i Infrastructure and Future Biogas’s existing cash resources, according to the announcement. This funding is expected to precede a refinancing of Future Biogas’s capital structure.
The majority of the equity funding for the transaction is expected to be returned before 3i Infrastructure’s financial year-end in March 2027.
Bernardo Sottomayor, managing partner and head of European infrastructure at 3i Investments plc, the investment manager of 3i Infrastructure, described the transaction as another step in Future Biogas’s growth. He highlighted operational improvements delivered by the management team and said full ownership would help accelerate further investment while increasing the scale of the platform.
Bioenergy Business Analysis
Future Biogas’s acquisition highlights continued investment in established UK biomethane infrastructure, with the transaction focused on increasing operational control rather than acquiring an entirely new portfolio of facilities.
The approximately 21% EBITDA growth reported since August 2024 provides an indication of the performance improvements achieved across the six plants. However, EBITDA growth does not necessarily translate directly into equivalent increases in biomethane output, and the announcement does not provide plant-level production figures.
Full ownership could help Future Biogas coordinate capital expenditure, operational changes and capacity expansion across the portfolio. The extent of additional growth will depend on the technical potential of the plants, feedstock availability, grid access, investment costs and the commercial environment for biomethane.
For the wider UK bioenergy sector, the deal demonstrates how infrastructure investors and specialist operators can pursue growth through the consolidation and optimisation of existing anaerobic digestion assets. The next indicators to watch are the refinancing outcome, the delivery of planned plant upgrades and any disclosed increases in production capacity or output.
