Waterland Ireland, the Irish arm of the Dutch private equity firm, is set to deploy a further €250 million here over the next 18 months as it targets more engineering companies servicing the data sector and looks to move into new industries like food and logistics.The €250 million commitment comes after Waterland’s parent entity raised a €4 billion fund in April, backed by investors including the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund. The firm, one of the most eager dealmakers in the Republic in the past several years, has a strong acquisition pipeline, said partner Laura Dillon this week. “We’ve got several companies that we’re in exclusivity with,” she said. “In the short term, we will be doing more in the engineering sector. There will be more announcements to come there, and likely also in the broader distribution sector.”Waterland has tended to invest in so-called platform companies in specific industries, before adding smaller, complementary businesses through acquisition. One such company is MTM Engineering, the Meath-based data centre cabling specialist, in which Waterland acquired a majority stake in 2022 in a deal reportedly worth €30 million.The company has grown “very strongly” since then, Dillon said, through a mixture of acquisitions and organic growth. MTM, which does most of its work outside the Republic, is involved in large-scale data centre projects in continental Europe, she said. MTM has been one of the Waterland Ireland portfolio’s biggest growth engines, Dillon added. Overall, companies bought by the firm have grown their revenues by a combined €600 million since acquisition to €1.15 billion.Another important growth engine for the portfolio has been Wtech, the Mullingar-based fire protection system specialist, which Waterland sold to Nasdaq-listed API Group earlier this year. Dillon would not be drawn on whether the firm has any other exits in the offing. However, she said the firm’s decarbonisation and retrofitting platform, NetZero Group, “is one we do continue to monitor”.NetZero – formed initially through the Waterland-backed merger of two green heating and plumbing companies in 2023 – is also “growing very, very strongly”, she said, benefiting from State supports for home retrofitting. “Unfortunately, with higher energy prices, it’s also caused people to think about installing heat pumps and solar panels,” Dillon added. How many new homes does Ireland really need? Listen | 42:23Waterland recently made headlines after announcing the acquisition of Primeline, one of Ireland’s biggest end-to-end logistics and supply chain services companies. Logistics is a new departure for the firm in the Republic, although Dillon said the wider Waterland group has a large footprint in the industry in Europe. That deal has been notified to the competition authority, with a decision expected in the coming weeks. Dillon also said the food industry is one in which Waterland Ireland wants to test the waters. “The food sector is another area that Ireland obviously punches way above its weight in, and I think we’re certainly having some good discussions in that sector.”Despite a slowdown in private markets this year, particularly in the US and Europe, the Irish economy continues to outperform many larger economies, Dillon said. “I think that what we’re seeing is good businesses continue to transact at very good prices,” she said. “People still have capital, and they want to do deals,” although there has been a tilt “towards quality”, with deal makers becoming “more selective” about their targets.