XPV Water Partners

David Henderson is a Managing Partner and has led the firm since its 2005 founding. XPV's investment committee draws on a mix of private equity professionals and operating partners with deep water-sector experience, including former utility CEOs and engineers, which means technical and financial diligence run concurrently rather than sequentially.

XPV sources through its network of operating partners and water-sector relationships built over nearly two decades. The firm's full-time industry focus and its operating partners' ability to assess technical risk on-site gives it access to carve-outs and family-held water companies that generalist funds often miss or cannot underwrite competitively.

XPV Water Partners is structured as an institutional private equity manager, raising committed capital from limited partners across multiple fund vintages. It is not a family office, though its specialized mandate and long hold periods can resemble permanent-capital approaches.

XPV invests directly in operating companies, typically seeking control or significant minority stakes. The firm is not structured as a fund-of-funds and does not allocate to third-party water funds, though it has partnered with co-investors such as Isle Capital on specific acquisitions, including the 2023 CEC carve-out.

The firm targets mid-market companies across growth equity, buyout, and complex carve-out situations. It has also engaged in seed and early-stage investments where the technology — typically digital water monitoring or advanced treatment — aligns with its buy-and-build strategy for a specific platform.

XPV does not invest outside the water value chain. It is sector-specific by design, so it avoids energy, consumer, healthcare, and general industrials that fall outside water treatment, distribution, metering, and water-related digital infrastructure.

Pure-play water focus and embedded operating talent mark the core difference. Generalist infrastructure funds hold water assets among many other verticals, while XPV's entire portfolio and underwriting capability concentrate on water. The firm's operating partners — not outside consultants — run technical diligence and often step into interim management roles post-close.