Round Table Capital Partners (RTC) has sold a majority equity interest in Ardurra Group to Littlejohn & Co.
Ardurra is a provider of design, engineering, and consulting services to public and private customers operating in the water and wastewater, transportation, and aviation sectors. The company’s services include construction management, project planning and development, geotechnical engineering, environmental science analysis, sustainability assessment, surveying, permitting for zoning requirements, and subcontractor management.
In 2021, Ardurra was ranked #114 on Engineering News-Record’s Top 500 Design Firms list. Miami-headquartered Ardurra, led by CEO Ernesto Aguilar, has 1,250 employees across more than 70 nationwide offices.
RTC first invested in Ardurra in 2017 through the merger of King Engineering, a Florida-based engineering firm, and Ardurra Group, a Texas-based engineering and disaster recovery firm.
During RTC’s term of ownership, Ardurra closed more than 20 add-on acquisitions including, in 2022, Arizona-based Shephard-Wesnitzer (September 2022), Idaho-based T-O Engineers (September 2022), Florida-based 300 Engineering Group (July 2022), Arizona-based Woodson Engineering & Surveying (March 2022), Florida-based Pevida Highway Designers (February 2022), Georgia-based ZEL Engineers (January 2022), Florida-based Milam Land Surveying (January 2022), and Texas-based Gunda Corporation (January 2022).
“RTC is incredibly proud of and grateful to CEO Ernesto Aguilar and the entire Ardurra team for the outstanding work they have done in building this platform. In addition to executing on an aggressive growth plan, both organic and acquisitive, this team has also managed to build a best-in-class corporate infrastructure and instill a highly engaged, high-performance culture that is truly differentiated,” said Christopher Lee, a co-founder and co-managing partner at RTC.
“RTC has been an outstanding partner for our organization,” said Mr. Aguilar. “They have supported our vision of growing a national professional services firm by committing to our values of being employee-centric, client-focused, and results-driven. RTC’s financial and strategic support has allowed us to establish a strong foundation for continued industry-leading growth, and our entire organization is appreciative of their unwavering trust and support over the last five years.”
“Ardurra has developed a well-earned reputation as an industry leader with a track record of above-market growth that plays a vital role in supporting its clients, which include municipal and state governments,” said Michael Kaplan, a managing director at Littlejohn. “We believe Ardurra is well positioned as investments in complex infrastructure – particularly focused around drinking water, water treatment, and transportation – continue to accelerate.”
Greenwich, Connecticut-based Littlejohn invests from $50 million to $250 million of equity in middle-market companies that have annual revenues of $100 million to $800 million. The firm invests across a range of industries including manufacturers, distributors, and service providers.
New York City-based Round Table Capital Partners, founded in 2018, invests in North America-based companies with EBITDA from $500,000 to $10 million and enterprise values from $1 million to $50 million. Sectors of interest include professional, business, and healthcare services.
“Our goal in building the Ardurra organization was always to build a market-leading growth platform and to ultimately find a strong partner that was well-positioned to support the organization in achieving its next phase of expansion,” said Tony Brindisi, a co-founder and co-managing partner at RTC. “We are excited to pass the torch to Littlejohn and look forward to following their success.”
Littlejohn was advised by Harris Williams and Environmental Financial Consulting Group, and Evercore was the financial advisor to Ardurra and RTC on this transaction.
© 2023 Private Equity Professional | February 7, 2023
