RST/Measurand, a portfolio company of Vance Street Capital, has acquired 3vGeomatics, a provider of radar and image-based detection and measurement services.
3vGeomatics specializes in the use of Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) to detect and measure ground and infrastructure displacement – subsidence, uplift and other movements – over time.
InSAR technology is based on the comparison of multiple radar image pairs to create interferograms that compare, on a pixel-by-pixel basis, the changes in the images over time. InSAR specialists use specialized processing techniques to remove contaminant signals – such as atmosphere effects – and present the displacement results using optical satellite imagery to provide for simple interpretation of what locations are moving, by how much, and when.
Customers of 3vGeomatics are active in the mining, pipeline, infrastructure, transportation, and water management sectors. The company, with over 50 employees, was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia with additional facilities in Calgary, Alberta and Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
“We are thrilled to be joining the RST/Measurand team to expand our global reach and co-build an even stronger offering through our innovative InSAR technology,” said Adrian McArdle, the president of 3vGeomatics. “Both companies are longstanding leaders in the geotechnical engineering community, and we look forward to a strong and mutually beneficial partnership.”
RST designs and manufactures geotechnical instrumentation and data systems that are used to measure the structural integrity of bridges, dams and levees, mines, tailings ponds, tunnels and highways. RST’s products are used to monitor, measure, log and transmit readings of geotechnical properties such as inclination, pressure, displacement and temperature. RST is headquartered near Vancouver in Maple Ridge, British Columbia.
Vance Street acquired RST in September 2017 from Hammond, Kennedy, Whitney & Company, and completed the add-on acquisition of Measurand Group in March 2019.
Measurand is a Fredericton, New Brunswick-based manufacturer of geotechnical instrumentation used to measure the deformation of soil and structures in mines, tailings ponds, bridges, tunnels, dams and levees.
The combination of RST/Measurand and 3vG creates a company with over 270 employees, more than 1,000 clients in 60 countries, and a network of over 30 partners and professionals in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Singapore and South Africa.
“By adding 3vG’s deep experience in specialized InSAR technology to our existing portfolio, we’ve assembled an industry-first end-to-end full site view, from geotechnical monitoring to InSAR for holistic monitoring. This adds a new dimension to our trusted data offering in a growing global market,” said Mark Price, the CEO of RST/Measurand.
“As critical asset owners continue to look for ways to enhance the monitoring of their underlying assets, 3vG’s InSAR technology will play a key role in those efforts,” said Steve Sandbo, a principal at Vance Street. “The combination of RST/Measurand’s connected instrumentation and cloud-based data systems with 3vG’s InSAR will provide customers with a holistic monitoring solution that is unmatched in the market.”
Los Angeles-based Vance Street makes control investments in companies with enterprise values of $30 million to $250 million and EBITDA of $3 million to $25 million. Sectors of interest include aerospace, defense, industrial, and medical.
Debt financing for this transaction was provided by a lending syndicate led by Bank of Montreal, with participation from Canadian Western Bank and National Bank of Canada.
Ernst & Young Orenda Corporate Finance was the financial advisor to 3vGeomatics.
© 2021 Private Equity Professional | July 13, 2021
