After Tripling EBITDA, Boyne Exits McKee

Boyne Capital has sold McKee Utility Contractors to publicly traded MasTec in a transaction valued at $276 million.

McKee Utility Contractors specializes in installing and rehabilitating large-diameter water and wastewater transmission pipelines used by municipalities and regional water authorities. Many of McKee’s projects are designed to move millions of gallons of water daily between reservoirs, treatment facilities, and population centers.

McKee’s services include large-diameter pipeline construction used by cities expanding drinking water networks; wastewater transmission line installation connecting treatment plants with regional sewer systems; and complex utility infrastructure projects that require trenching, heavy excavation, and specialized pipe-laying equipment.

McKee was founded in 1978 by Don McKee and today is led by Chief Executive Officer Shane McKee and President Tyler McKee. The company operates primarily in Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas and is headquartered east of Oklahoma City in Prague, Oklahoma.

Boyne acquired McKee in December 2022 through its second fund, BCM Fund II LP, which closed in July 2020 at its hard cap with $246 million of capital. During its ownership term, Boyne supported and grew the company’s workforce by doubling its crew count and expanded its regional presence with divisions in Oklahoma, North Texas, and South Texas. Over that period, the company also invested in project management systems, safety operations, and information technology.

“Partnering with Boyne Capital allowed us to significantly scale McKee while preserving the values that have guided our business for more than 40 years,” said Mr. McKee. “Together, we expanded our crews, equipment fleet, and project capabilities, positioning the business to take on larger and more complex water infrastructure projects across the Southern United States. I am incredibly proud of our team and what we have accomplished, and we are excited for continued growth as part of the MasTec platform.”

“We are very proud to have supported Shane and Tyler McKee in executing their growth plan,” said Roman Krislav, a managing director at Boyne Capital. “Over the last 3 years, McKee has laid over 700,000 feet of large diameter pipe, as revenue has organically more than doubled from 2022 to 2025 while EBITDA has approximately tripled over that period. The McKee and Boyne teams have worked together in true partnership to help transform the company into a formidable water infrastructure business and a leader for its type of work in its regions. We are happy to have played a role in this important chapter of the McKee story and are thrilled that a market leader such as MasTec recognized and valued the platform that has been built. We wish the McKee and MasTec teams all the best in the next chapter of the McKee story.”

“We thank Shane and Tyler McKee for their leadership over the last three years,” said Derek McDowell, managing partner and CEO of Boyne Capital. “The company’s growth is a testament to the execution driven culture established by the McKee family, and the collaborative partnership we formed together. We are proud of what the McKee team accomplished and of Boyne Capital’s ability to partner with founder-led businesses to accelerate growth.”

MasTec (NYSE: MTZ) is a provider of infrastructure construction services to electric utilities, energy producers, and telecommunications providers that require large-scale infrastructure construction across North America. MasTec’s services include building electric power transmission lines that carry electricity across long distances; installing fiber-optic communications networks used by telecommunications providers; and constructing oil, gas, and renewable energy pipelines used by utilities and energy companies.

MasTec has historically expanded through acquisitions, including several transactions involving private equity-backed companies. In 2022, MasTec acquired Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives from Oaktree Capital Management in a deal valued at about $1.1 billion, expanding its renewable energy construction business. Earlier, in 2018, MasTec bought Henkels & McCoy Group from American Securities, a transaction aimed at strengthening its fiber and utility infrastructure construction capabilities.

MasTec, led by CEO José Mas, is headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida, and serves customers across the U.S. and internationally.

“Our focus was on building an operational organization that could support McKee not just for today, but for the long term,” said Adam Herman, the COO of Boyne. “By strengthening leadership, support functions, systems and metrics tracking, the company developed the structure needed to continue to scale. The operational platform in place today reflects a forward-looking organization that is well positioned to continue executing on increasingly complex work and to support the next phase of growth.”

Boyne Capital invests in lower middle-market companies with revenues of less than $100 million and EBITDA of $3 million to $15 million. Sectors of interest include healthcare services, manufacturing, consumer products, and business services. The firm was founded by Mr. McDowell in 2006 and is headquartered in Miami, Florida.