One Equity Partners has agreed to acquire the operating assets of Muehlhan, a provider of industrial services to the marine, infrastructure and offshore wind energy industries.
Muehlhan operates within four segments – shipping, oil and gas, renewables, and construction/infrastructure. The shipping segment provides surface coating maintenance and renovation services as well as water, ballast and fuel tank restoration services. The company’s oil and gas segment is active with surface and fire protection, insulation, and scaffolding services.
“We believe that OEP will accelerate our growth strategy of providing industrial services to the three core industries: wind energy, marine and infrastructure, extending our geographic reach and broadening our service portfolio. OEP has a long track record of driving their investments forward, especially through strategic add-on acquisitions,” said Mr. Müller-Arends.
“Our strategy is to quickly scale the renewables, marine and infrastructure businesses through acquisitions and become an even better provider to renewables OEMs, marine clients, and public infrastructure providers while benefitting from the strong underlying growth in each of the three end-markets,” said Philipp von Meurers, a managing director at OEP. “The underlying end-markets exhibit attractive growth prospects and are backed by global efforts to decarbonize energy, U.S. infrastructure investments and increasing naval defense budgets in light of the recent geopolitical complexities.”
OEP is a middle-market private equity firm focused on the industrial, healthcare, and technology sectors in North America and Europe. Typical equity investments range from $30 million to $300 million. The firm spun out of JP Morgan in 2015 and has closed more than 300 transactions worldwide since its founding in 2001. OEP has offices in New York, Chicago, Frankfurt, and Amsterdam.
In April 2022, OEP closed its latest fund, One Equity Partners VIII LP, with committed capital of $2.75 billion. The new fund was oversubscribed and closed above its increased hard cap.
“Muehlhan has successfully broadened its service offerings beyond maritime into high-growth adjacent markets such as wind energy, thereby capitalizing on the trend of decarbonizing energy production. The combination of asset aging and new installations is expected to benefit offshore operations and the maintenance market, which is expected to grow by a double-digit CAGR between 2020 and 2025,” said Vittorio Palladino, a vice president at OEP. “We know the market well and believe Muehlhan is a great platform to consolidate the fragmented coating services market.”
This transaction is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2023.
© 2022 Private Equity Professional | September 28, 2022
