Falfurrias Capital Partners has formed North American T&D Group in partnership with Dave Pacyna, the former CEO of Siemens’ North American Transmission & Distribution division. Mr. Pacyna will lead an investment strategy focused on acquiring and growing domestic companies that support mission-critical elements of the electric utility grid.
North American T&D Group will target small, privately owned U.S. suppliers that make up about 25 percent of the North American power delivery marketplace. These companies make transformers, breakers, switching equipment and other mission-critical elements of the transmission and distribution infrastructure. Many are legacy businesses that can benefit from being part of a larger platform with back office enterprise management, sales and marketing, and other forms of support.
The first investment as part of this strategy is the acquisition of Instrument Transformer Equipment Corporation (ITEC), an original equipment manufacturer of instrument transformer products used by electric utilities and industrial customers. ITEC was founded in 1993 and is based in Charlotte, NC (www.itec-ctvt.com).
“ITEC has successfully built strong relationships in an industry that demands uncompromising quality, and we believe Dave will enable the company to continue its impressive growth trajectory,” said Ed McMahan, Partner with Falfurrias Capital. “ITEC is the type of growth company in which we like to invest and represents an ideal platform for our broader investment strategy in the energy infrastructure market.”
Falfurrias Capital has prior experience in the transmission & distribution (T&D) industry. From 2007 to 2012 the firm executed a series of three investments in the T&D industry, creating UC Synergetic, a provider of engineering services focused on transmission and distribution infrastructure for the electric utility and telecommunications industries. Falfurrias sold its investment in UC Synergetic to Pike Electric in 2012.
“I am excited to partner with Falfurrias to lead this investment strategy, and we look forward to building North American T&D Group into a leading T&D component manufacturing platform that will serve the North American energy infrastructure industry,” said Mr. Pacyna. “Despite the increasing importance of our electricity infrastructure to our economic prosperity, many of the core elements of this system have been in operation for over sixty years and are in dire need of updating. We look forward to helping utilities upgrade the electrical grid to assure consistent, reliable power.”
Falfurrias Capital Partners makes equity investments of at least $3 million in companies with revenues in excess of $10 million and EBITDAs in excess of $2 million. Industries of interest include financial services; consumer products; health care; building products; diversified manufacturing; business services; education, training, and information services; and infrastructure services. Falfurrias was founded by former Bank of America Chairman and CEO Hugh McColl Jr. and former Bank of America CFO Marc Oken. The firm is based in Charlotte, NC (www.falfurriascapital.com).
© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 3-14-13
