Criticore, a portfolio company of Huron Capital, has acquired Jenco, a provider of commercial electrical contractor services.
Jenco services include electrical retrofit, repair, and preventative maintenance services which are provided to commercial customers across the metropolitan Phoenix area. The company was founded by Kelly Anderson and is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The Criticore platform was formed in August 2023 through the acquisition of RK Electric, a Dallas-based provider of commercial electrical contracting services – maintenance, repair, and retrofit services – to the semiconductor, biotechnology, electric vehicle and battery manufacturing, and higher education sectors. RK Electric was founded in 1985 and is headquartered south of San Franciso in Fremont, California.
The formation of Criticore and the buy of RK Electric is part of Huron’s ExecFactor strategy which partners with operating executives to provide them both capital and resources to acquire and grow companies operating in sectors of interest to Huron.
Leading Criticore is CEO Tom Bartolomei who has over 30 years of industry experience, most recently serving as the chief executive officer of Shermco Industries, a provider of testing, maintenance, and repair services for electrical infrastructure including substations, switchgear, transformers, motors, and generators. Dallas-based Shermco, with annual revenues of more than $300 million and more than 1,100 employees, is a current portfolio company of Gryphon Investors and a prior portfolio company of Oaktree Capital Management. Mr. Bartolomei is also the former president and CEO of NAES, a provider of operation and maintenance services to power generation facilities; and the former CEO of Eco Power Solutions, a Boston-based provider of energy recovery and emission control technology.
“We are excited to partner with the Jenco team to continue our path towards becoming the leading provider of comprehensive electrical services, specializing in electrical and data systems that are critical for technically advanced facilities and that meet the needs of customers throughout the entire facility lifecycle,” said Mr. Bartolomei. “Jenco has developed a strong brand presence through its service-oriented culture, deep technical talent base, and unwavering commitment to safety that offers strong alignment with RK Electric’s capabilities and market leading position.”
With the close of the Jenco acquisition, Dallas-headquartered Criticore is now a full-service electrical services provider to the semiconductor, EV battery, data centers, biotech, healthcare, industrial manufacturing, and higher education sectors. The company specializes in uptime-critical electrical and data systems with complex load requirements.
Kelly Anderson, the founder and CEO of Jenco, will continue in his current position and will report to Mr. Bartolomei alongside Raul Real, the president of RK Electric.
“Huron and Tom’s deep experience in the broader facility services sector makes Criticore the ideal partner to support our next chapter of growth,” said Mr. Anderson. “The opportunity to be one of the foundational businesses in the Criticore platform is exciting – I am looking forward to leveraging the platform’s service-first culture and strategic vision to build upon the capabilities that have made Jenco indispensable to our customers over the past 30 years.”
“Criticore’s newest partnership with Jenco provides expansion into the highly attractive Phoenix/Scottsdale market, while leveraging Jenco’s leading position to drive expansion with customers across Criticore’s core end markets,” said Brian Rassel, a partner at Huron. “Jenco has developed long-term, embedded customer relationships with highly attractive customers, and we are thrilled to partner with Kelly and the rest of the team to begin executing on our shared vision to become the leading service-oriented electrical platform.”
Huron Capital invests in the commercial and industrial services, professional services and consumer services sectors. Since its founding in 1999, Detroit-based Huron has made more than 275 acquisitions and has raised over $2 billion in capital through 6 private equity funds.
© 2024 Private Equity Professional | April 17, 2024
