J.F. Lehman & Company (JFLCO) has sold NRC Group Holdings to Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III (HCAC). As part of the transaction, HCAC has changed its name to NRC Group Holdings and its stock is now trading on the NYSE under the ticker symbols NRCG. JFLCO will continue to own a controlling equity position in the now public company.
NRC Group was formed earlier this year through the combination of two JFLCO portfolio companies: National Response Corporation (NRC) and Sprint Energy Services (Sprint).
NRC, acquired in March 2012, is a provider of environmental, emergency response, and industrial services, including industrial cleaning and maintenance, HAZMAT emergency response, oil spill response and cleanup, industrial firefighting and rescue, waste management, site remediation, and abatement. NRC is the largest commercial oil spill response organization in the US and has operations worldwide. The company has approximately 1,400 employees and is headquartered on Long Island in Great River, NY with regional offices throughout the US and internationally (www.nrcc.com).
Sprint (acquired in May 2015) is a provider of specialized, technical environmental services to the upstream energy industry. The company offers an array of services and related rental equipment for waste management, environmental and safety at customer well-sites. The company is based in Houston (www.sprintenergy.com).
Since the acquisition of NRC and Sprint, JFLCO worked with each company’s management team to reinvigorate their core businesses, expand geographically and grow their service portfolio through both vertical integration and expansion into adjacent, complementary service offerings. These organic growth initiatives were augmented by eleven add-on acquisitions which substantially increased NRC Group’s geographic footprint.
“Our successful partnership with management has enabled the creation of a highly differentiated global business with significant opportunities for continued growth,” said Alex Harman, former Chairman and current Director of the company and a Partner at JFLCO. “In addition, the sale of NRC Group represents an excellent outcome for our investors, whose support has been essential to our organization’s success.”
NRC Group is led by CEO Chris Swinbank. “We are proud of the growth and expansion that NRC Group has achieved over the past six years,” said Mr. Swinbank. “J.F. Lehman & Company has been instrumental in helping solidify and grow our reputation and brand, augment and diversify our service capabilities, significantly expand our geographic footprint and recruit talent to our team.”
“We are looking forward to continuing our partnership with the company’s senior management team to further accelerate the company’s organic and acquisition-driven growth strategy,” said Glenn Shor, current Director of the company and a Managing Director at JFLCO.
J.F. Lehman & Company is a middle-market private equity firm focused primarily on the maritime, defense, and aerospace sectors. The firm was founded in 1992 by Dr. John Lehman, who served six years as Secretary of the United States Navy. To date, J.F. Lehman has acquired 64 operating entities within 25 platform investments with an aggregate transaction value of approximately $3.1 billion. The firm is headquartered in New York with an additional office in Washington, DC (www.jflpartners.com).
HCAC is a blank check company founded by Daniel Hennessy and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses.
HCAC was advised on the transaction by Credit Suisse Securities (USA) and Stifel as capital markets advisors; Nomura Securities International was a financial advisor and provided equity financing. Sidley Austin and Ellenoff Grossman & Schole provided legal services.
Stifel and Houlihan Lokey Capital were the financial advisors to JFLCO. Jones Day and Blank Rome provided legal services.
© 2018 Private Equity Professional | October 19, 2018
