RMA Companies, a platform company of OceanSound Partners, has acquired PRI Group.
PRI’s independent third-party testing, evaluation, and technical services are provided to several infrastructure end-markets, including asphalt/bitumen, transportation, building materials, chemical, and energy.
The company operates through three business units including (1) Asphalt Technologies which provides testing, evaluation, and technical services to the asphalt industry from asphalt derivation through its lifecycle of use in paving, roofing, and industrial products; (2) Construction Materials which provides testing, inspection, and product certification services for building materials, including roof coverings, claddings, glass, adhesives, paints and coatings; and (3) Building Envelope which assists clients with building code compliance.
PRI was founded in 1990 by Ken Grzybowski and today is led by President Brad Grzybowski. The company operates two laboratory facilities in Tampa, Florida (headquarters) and Munster, Indiana.
RMA Companies is a national provider of testing, inspection, certification, and compliance (TICC) services to the transportation, healthcare, power, and water end markets. Specific areas of expertise include environmental consulting, geotechnical engineering, geophysics and subsurface imaging, and pavement engineering. RMA, founded in 1962, has approximately 600 employees – engineers, geologists, inspectors, and technicians – and is headquartered in Rancho Cucamonga, California.
OceanSound has been active with RMA since acquiring the company in September 2021 and has now completed six add-on acquisitions to execute on its strategy to build a national testing and inspection services company.
The five earlier add-on acquisitions are Arizona-based Western Technologies (January 2022), California-based CSI Services (February 2022), California-based C Below (January 2023), Oregon-based Northwest Geotech (December 2022), and Washington-based GeoTest Services (February 2023).
“The addition of PRI supports our strategic expansion into the Southeast and bolsters our TICC portfolio,” said Ed Lyon, the CEO of RMA. “PRI is one of the preeminent providers of asphalt and construction materials testing and certification services. They have advanced lab capabilities in the development and evaluation of asphalt products. In addition, their materials testing expertise adds to our range of building envelope services, enabling RMA to provide comprehensive services across both product and project lifecycles. We look forward to providing these services and driving cross-sell opportunities across the RMA companies.”
New York City-based OceanSound makes control investments of $75 million to $300 million in North America-based technology and technology-enabled services companies serving the government and enterprise industries. Typical target companies will have enterprise values of $150 million to $750 million. The firm is led by Managing Partner and Co-Founder Joe Benavides alongside fellow Partners and Co-Founders Ted Coons and Jeff Kelly.
In February 2022, OceanSound closed its debut fund, OceanSound Partners Fund LP, with an above-target $780 million of committed capital.
© 2023 Private Equity Professional | March 14, 2023
