Partners Group has agreed to acquire United States Infrastructure Corporation (USIC), a provider of underground utility locating services, from Leonard Green & Partners which acquired USIC in June 2013 from OMERS Private Equity.
USIC specializes in locating pipes and cables for utility customers across the US and Canada. The company employs more than 7,500 technicians and performs over 70 million utility locating services annually ahead of excavation or maintenance works. USIC currently serves around 1,000 customers in all major utility segments, including cable, telecommunications, electricity, gas, water and sewage. The company, led by CEO Rob Tullman, was founded in 2008 and is based in Indianapolis (www.usicinc.com).
Partners Group intends to grow USIC by building operations through investments in technology and data management, expanding service offerings in adjacent markets, and growing the company both organically and through add-on acquisitions.
“In the current investment environment, we are looking for stable businesses with resilient cash flows and strong growth prospects,” said David Layton, Partner and Head of Private Equity at Partners Group. “With its market-leading position, blue chip customer base, and exceptional management team, USIC encompasses all of these traits and has in fact been on our radar for several years due to its impressive track record of growth. We are therefore delighted to partner with Rob Tullman and the rest of the management team in this investment.”
Partners Group is a global investment management firm with over $66 billion of assets under management in private equity, private real estate, private infrastructure and private debt. The firm is headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, and has over 950 employees across 19 offices around the globe (www.partnersgroup.com).
“USIC is a great fit with our investment strategy,” said Juri Jenkner, Partner and Head of Private Infrastructure at Partners Group. “The company provides an essential service to US utilities, and has stable cash flows underpinned by a highly creditworthy customer base.”
Leonard Green, the seller of USIC, invests in middle-market companies in the retail, distribution, healthcare, aerospace/defense, and consumer/business services sectors. The firm will invest in a variety of situations including traditional buyouts, going-private transactions, recapitalizations, growth capital investments, corporate carve-outs, and public equity and debt. Leonard Green was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Los Angeles (www.leonardgreen.com).
“We are proud to have been associated with the USIC team over several years of outstanding growth and we are tremendously grateful for the amazing job that CEO Rob Tullman and the rest of the USIC team have done,” said Tim Flynn, Partner at Leonard Green. “We look forward to seeing continued success for the entire USIC family supported by Partners Group, one of the leading firms in our business.”
Deutsche Bank and Harris Williams were the financial advisors to USIC, and KPMG was the financial advisor to Partners Group.
© 2017 Private Equity Professional | August 25, 2017
