One Equity Partners has completed the all cash $205 million acquisition of the measurement solutions business of publicly traded TechnipFMC.
The business, which was rebranded at closing as Guidant, was part of TechnipFMC’s surface technologies segment and operates through three units: metering products; metering systems; and terminal management.
Guidant’s metering products and systems include positive displacement, turbine, ultrasonic and Coriolis meters used in leak detection, diagnostics, and custody transfer applications which measure and document the transfer of ownership of oil, gas, or other hydrocarbon products from one party to another. Custody transfers occur at various points along the production, transportation, and distribution chain, and involves accurately measuring the quantity and quality of the product being transferred. Guidant’s systems ensure accurate measurements of flow rate, temperature, pressure, and composition, enabling reliable data on transferred product volume and quality.
Guidant’s portfolio of metering products includes the Smith Meter, a positive displacement meter which was first built in the company’s Erie facility in 1940. Today, there are more than half a million Smith Meters in use in downstream, midstream and upstream applications including for gasolines and oxygenates, ethanol, kerosene, diesel fuel, jet fuels, and fuel oils.
Houston-headquartered Guidant, led by CEO Laura Schilling, has more than 450 employees and operates six facilities, including manufacturing locations in Erie, Pennsylvania, and Ellerbek, Germany.
“Our industry is experiencing increased demand for instrumentation and automation solutions due to new regulations, fuel diversification, green energy investment, evolving data security and increasing life of assets,” said Ms. Schilling. “We are excited to partner with OEP to support our core market focus and build on our portfolio through acquisitions to deliver best measurement practices, automation and technology across a growing global platform of manufacturing, product innovation and service for our customers.”
Guidant also provides terminal management systems that provide for the measurement, accounting and control of a customer’s facility through one single integrated interface. Energy terminals are located at key points along transportation routes, including ports, rail yards, pipelines, and major highways, and are used to store, process and transfer energy products from one transportation mode to another.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with Guidant’s talented management team,” said J.B. Cherry, a partner at One Equity Partners. “Its creation came about through consistent collaboration between the management team, OEP’s team, and a large group of dedicated outside advisors to complete a complex corporate carve-out, involving three separate business units spread across multiple countries. The newly standalone Guidant is well-positioned to build on the significant collective, global strengths of its existing measurement platforms and to grow via transformational acquisitions.”
One Equity Partners (OEP) is a middle market private equity firm focused on the industrial, healthcare, and technology sectors in North America and Europe. Typical equity investments range from $30 million to $300 million. OEP specializes in corporate carve-outs and has completed 21 similar transactions across its latest 4 funds, including 11 which operate in industrial end markets.
In April 2022, OEP closed its latest fund, One Equity Partners VIII LP, with committed capital of $2.75 billion. The new fund was oversubscribed and closed above its increased hard cap. OEP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Frankfurt, and Amsterdam, spun out of JP Morgan in 2015 and has closed more than 300 transactions worldwide since its founding in 2001.
TechnipFMC (NYSE: FTI) is a provider of subsea and surface systems and infrastructure used in oil and gas production and transportation. The company was formed by the merger of FMC Technologies and Technip in 2017 and is headquartered in Newcastle, United Kingdom, with an operational headquarters in Houston, Texas. The company had more than $7.8 billion of revenue in 2023 and has more than 23,000 employees with operations in 48 counties.
© 2024 Private Equity Professional | March 28, 2024
