Business Services or “Infrastructure Plus” – the new SaaS

A quiet shift

For over a decade, the equation seemed unshakeable: chasing above-average returns meant going into SaaS. Recurring revenues, high gross margins, predictable scaling, double-digit ARR multiples – far above market. In short, SaaS was the gold standard of modern private equity portfolios.

How times have changed: valuations and growth rates have normalised, churn rates are climbing, and everyone with access to AI can build software within weeks, thus diminishing the value of IP.

At AURELIUS Growth, we think a new asset class is stepping up as an alternative for PE portfolios: Business Services or “Infrastructure Plus”.

“Infrastructure Plus” vs Infrastructure “Classic”

Classic infrastructure – bridges, energy grids, fibre networks, mobile towers – has long traded at premium multiples. Investors pay for stability, regulatory anchoring and inflation protection.

What is often overlooked: there is an adjacent segment that shares these characteristics and still offers attractive entry valuations. We call it “Infrastructure Plus”: highly specialised business services companies that act as indispensable operators, maintenance and refurbishment partners for critical physical infrastructure. These companies remain in the background, although a modern economy simply would not function without them. Examples are maintenance of sewer networks, energy infrastructure, building technology, industrial plants, transport routes and often vehicles – the invisible backbone of our economy.

Six reasons why we like the space

1. Non-cyclical demand, anchored by regulation. Critical infrastructure must be maintained at all times, in recessions as well as in boom times. Demand is driven by economic growth and urbanisation, not by the business cycle. This creates an earnings stability that can emulate classic infrastructure assets.
2. Structural tailwind from the investment backlog. Western Europe has been underinvesting in infrastructure for decades – the backlog is now measured in triple-digit billions. This deficit will have to be offset by enormous investments, providing an attractive opportunity for service companies.
3. High barriers to entry through expertise, certification and equipment. Unlike in SaaS, where a new competitor can be in the market within months, Infrastructure Plus companies require years of operational experience, certifications, specialised equipment and qualified personnel. These barriers protect margins and market share.
4. Local market power through site networks. In many of these segments, response time and logistical proximity are decisive purchasing criteria. Whoever builds a dense network of locations has a structural advantage, and that advantage can be actively scaled via buy-and-build, our specialty.
5. Fragmented markets with a clear consolidation logic. In Western Europe, these segments are dominated by owner-led midsized businesses, many with unresolved succession challenges, creating ideal conditions for a platform strategy: attractive entry multiples on add-ons, a clear synergy logic, and a path to market leadership that is rewarded at exit with infrastructure-like premiums.
6. AI as a catalyst for operational excellence, not a source of disruption. In contrast to SaaS, where AI can rapidly reshape business models and limit pricing power, AI in Infrastructure Plus enhances planning, routing, predictive maintenance and workforce productivity. In other words: it strengthens the competitive advantages of scaled platforms – with better data, tighter processes and higher service quality – rather than undermining their core economics.

We are fans

AURELIUS Growth has long experience with investing in Business Services and Infrastructure Plus. Examples of current investments include:

DKS Group, a specialised full-service provider for network operators in the public and industrial sectors we bought in 2022;

aribos Group, a collision repair services company specialising in car paint and bodywork repairs, which we bought in 2024; and

The Symporo Culinary Group, bought in 2018, which brings together several established subsidiaries in the social catering sector, focusing on schools, nurseries, senior care, and exclusive event catering.

Our approach is particularly suited to this area because we are not a passive capital provider. On the contrary, we see ourselves first and foremost as entrepreneurial partners to the founders of these businesses, but also as operational builders: we help them to identify and acquire complementary regional providers, to build professional holding structures with centralised functions (such as Finance, HR, IT, M&A), to implement uniform KPI and reporting standards, to unlock procurement, sales and efficiency synergies, and to develop a strong brand as a supra-regional quality leader. Out of a collection of local operations emerges a scalable, professionally managed company, with the character of infrastructure, retaining the features of a founder-managed business while offering the returns that work for private equity.

“Our best investments start with strong, locally rooted operators. Together with their founders, we then layer on central functions, data‑driven steering and M&A. That’s how a group of regional service businesses gradually becomes a scalable infrastructure‑like platform – without losing the agility and customer focus that made it successful in the first place.”

Jonas Anochin, Investment Principal at AURELIUS Growth

A sweet spot for AURELIUS Growth

This type of investment rarely shows up in the headlines. But it lies where substance meets structural tailwind. In the current market environment, Infrastructure Plus offers a rare combination: defensive earnings quality, a growth path, AI as a catalyst rather than a threat, operational value creation through real platform integration rather than mere financial engineering, and a clear exit path to strategic buyers or infrastructure-adjacent PE and infra funds.

“Infrastructure Plus offers what investors are increasingly looking for: resilient, uncorrelated cashflows and a credible roll‑up story. That intersection is exactly where AURELIUS Growth wants to be.”

Timo Stahlbuhk, Partner, Investment Team at AURELIUS Growth