J.F. Lehman & Company has completed the sales of Integrated Global Services (IGS) to American Securities, and Global Marine Group (GMG) to Keppel Capital.
IGS provides on-site internal surface protection services for critical equipment in refineries, power plants, and pulp & paper mills. The company’s customized services and products address metal wastage issues caused by corrosion and elevated-temperature erosion in the global refining, natural gas processing, coal-fired power generation, and pulp & paper industries.
The company’s services prevent equipment failure, extend service life, minimize outage downtime, and reduce repetitive maintenance expenses for its customers. J.F. Lehman acquired IGS from Industrial Growth Partners in February 2020 and, over its five-year ownership period, completed four add-on acquisitions.
“J.F. Lehman was a valuable partner to IGS during an exciting and dynamic period. They operated as true partners that shared our vision, and we are grateful for their support as we enhanced our solutions and reinforced our ability to serve customers across 60+ countries,” said Mr. Crawford. “We look forward to continuing our growth trajectory with our new partners at American Securities.”
“We are proud of our partnership with Rich and his team, as well as the significant organic growth achieved,” said Alex Harman, chairman of IGS and a partner at J.F. Lehman. “Over the past five years, we have executed strategic initiatives that unlocked new growth vectors and catalyzed greater market capture of existing technologies. We wish them continued success with their new partner.”
Global Marine Group (GMG) is a provider of subsea cable maintenance and installation services for the telecommunications, offshore wind, and utility markets worldwide. The company, led by CEO Bruce Neilson-Watts, owns and operates a fleet of specialized marine equipment and vessels, including three cable installation and repair vessels, four cable maintenance vessels, and 19 crew transfer vessels.
Headquartered in Chelmsford, United Kingdom, GMG traces its origins back to 1850, when it was known as Cable & Wireless Marine and later British Telecom Marine, playing a key role in laying the first telegraph cables. J.F. Lehman acquired GMG in March 2020 from publicly traded HC2.
“This transaction reflects the strength of our market position, operational expertise, and dedicated team. J.F. Lehman’s support in refining our strategy has enabled us to cement our focus on our core telecoms market, which is currently experiencing unprecedented growth and is well positioned for GMG to support,” said Mr. Neilson-Watts. “We are excited to build on our successes with our new partners at Keppel Capital.”
Keppel Capital is the asset management arm of Keppel Corporation, a Singapore-based multi-business company that specializes in managing investments in infrastructure, real estate, and communications.
According to a commercial due diligence report by Keppel, the rising global demand for connectivity and the limited supply of specialized vessels may allow the market for maintenance and installation services to grow at about 45% CAGR from 2023 to 2029. As a result, GMG is positioned to maintain its fleet utilization at close to 100%.
“We are excited to complete this investment in GMG. It is a rare and unique opportunity to acquire a world-leading provider of subsea cable maintenance and installation services,” said Christina Tan, the chief investment officer of Keppel. “With a substantial proportion of GMG’s business secured by long-term contracts with huge growth potential, especially in Asia, we are poised to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns to our investors.”
“With demand for secure and resilient undersea networks continuing to grow, GMG is uniquely positioned to ensure the reliability of these vital global connections,” said Will Hanenberg, a managing director at J.F. Lehman. “We believe Keppel Capital is the ideal partner to support the company in its next phase of growth.”
J.F. Lehman & Company is a middle-market private equity firm primarily focused on the maritime, defense, and aerospace sectors. The firm typically invests between $50 million and $350 million in companies with EBITDA ranging from $10 million to $75 million.
In December 2024, J.F. Lehman closed its latest flagship fund, JFL Equity Investors VI LP, securing $2.2 billion in capital. This fund is the largest in the firm’s history, significantly exceeding its original target of $1.6 billion. Founded in 1992 by Dr. John Lehman, who served as Secretary of the United States Navy for six years, the firm is headquartered in New York City, with an additional office in Washington, DC.
American Securities invests in businesses with $200 million to $2 billion of revenue and $50 million to $250 million of EBITDA. Sectors of interest include industrial manufacturing, specialty chemicals, aerospace and defense, energy, business services, healthcare, media, restaurants, and consumer products. The firm has more than $23 billion of capital under management and has offices in New York City and Shanghai.
Houlihan Lokey and Stifel acted as financial advisors to IGS, while Evercore served as the financial advisor to GMG. Harris Williams was the financial advisor to American Securities in its acquisition of IGS.
© 2025 Private Equity Professional | March 11, 2025
