Crestview Partners has joined with Congruex, a newly-formed company established to build a nationwide platform to provide design, engineering, construction and maintenance services to broadband network and utility operators.
Congruex and Crestview are targeting a consolidation of the fragmented engineering and construction services industry via acquisitions and organic growth based on the assumption that robust spending on communication networks and utility infrastructure is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.
Crestview and the Congruex senior management team are committing up to $200 million of equity as part of what is expected to be a total investment of approximately $500 million. Bill Beans and Kevin O’Hara, two experienced industry executives, lead Congruex. Mr. Beans serves as CEO and Mr. O’Hara serves as Executive Chairman (www.congruex.com).
Mr. Beans is the founder and former CEO of Open Range Communications, a Colorado-based telecommunications company which ceased operation in 2012. Open Range was formed in 2004 to provide wireless broadband infrastructure to rural communities. “It is a very exciting time to be investing in the highly fragmented engineering and construction services industry as investment in broadband networks as well as in utility-related infrastructure looks to be very strong for years to come,” said Mr. Beans. “We were attracted to Crestview due to its significant experience in the communications services space and history of partnering with management teams to grow businesses.”
Mr. O’Hara has 30 years of experience in the telecommunications industry. From 2011 to 2014 he was the Chairman, CEO and President, of Integra Telecom, a communication services provider serving business customers in 11 western states. Earlier in his career he was the co-founder and President of Level 3 Communications, a provider of local, national, and global communications services to enterprise, government and carrier customers.
“There are a host of growing engineering and construction companies to which Congruex can serve as a transformational partner. Bill and I have known each other for 30 years, and we have each spent our entire careers in the construction and communications services industries,” said Mr. O’Hara. “Our alliance with Crestview combines significant capital, deep operating experience and extensive industry relationships that are critical to helping the companies that join Congruex grow.”
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with Bill and Kevin. They are seasoned industry veterans who are ideally suited to pursue this consolidation strategy in a sector experiencing significant secular tailwinds from increasing demand for broadband capacity,” said Brian Cassidy, a Partner at Crestview. “We continue to evaluate a pipeline of exciting investment opportunities and look forward to advancing them with Congruex.”
Crestview Partners invests from $100 million to $250 million in companies with enterprise values up to $3 billion. Sectors of specific interest include energy, financial services, healthcare, industrials and media. Crestview, founded in 2004 and headquartered in New York, manages funds with over $7 billion of aggregate capital commitments (www.crestview.com).
© 2017 Private Equity Professional | May 10, 2017
