Boyne Capital has acquired Sonic Systems International, a provider of support services to the nuclear power industry.
Sonic’s nuclear-certified technicians provide a range of services to nuclear OEMs and operators of United States-based commercial nuclear reactors. Sonic’s services include non-destructive evaluation, quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC), refueling and reactor maintenance, engineering and project management.
Sonic, led by CEO Bruce Schlueter, was founded in 1977 and has facilities in Wilmington, North Carolina and Houston, Texas.
Co-investing with Boyne Capital on the buy of Sonic was Breakwater North, an investment and advisory firm founded in 2020 by managing partners David Faherty and Ryan Mills. Both founders have energy finance and nuclear operating experience having served as nuclear engineers aboard the USS Memphis (a Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered submarine) and the USS Harry S. Truman (a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier).
“We look forward to working with Boyne and company management to pursue several exciting strategic initiatives, as we seek to expand Sonic’s breadth of services and enhance the company’s reputation as a vendor of choice to the nuclear industry and other highly specialized industries,” commented Mr. Faherty and Mr. Mills in a released statement.
“The Boyne team is pleased to join forces with Sonic’s management team and Breakwater North,” said Derek McDowell, the managing partner and CEO of Boyne. “Sonic differentiates itself with deep, long-tenured customer relationships, built upon its consistent reliability and responsiveness as a partner. We are excited about Sonic’s position to capitalize on the revived growth of the nuclear power industry.”
“I am tremendously proud of the growth of the company over the last decade, and I believe the additional resources the new investors bring will enable the Company to become an even stronger industry supplier going forward,” said former Sonic president Dale Holbrook. “I look forward to remaining on the board of directors and supporting Bruce and the rest of the team on Sonic’s next phase of growth.”
Boyne Capital makes investments in lower middle-market market companies that have revenues of less than $100 million and EBITDA of $3 million to $15 million. Sectors of interest include healthcare services, agriculture, consumer products, niche manufacturing, and business and financial services. The firm was founded by Mr. McDowell in 2006 and is headquartered in Miami.
The acquisition of Sonic was made through Boyne’s second fund, BCM Fund II LP, which closed in July 2020 at its hard cap with $246 million of capital. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Boyne did not begin investing Fund II until January of 2021.
Main Street Capital provided debt financing and made an equity co-investment to support the buy of Sonic.
© 2021 Private Equity Professional | September 20, 2021
