engineering services

ORIX Invests in Sierra Engineering and Sierra Petroleum

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ORIX Mezzanine & Private Equity Investments has made a mezzanine and equity investment to support the acquisition of Sierra Engineering and Sierra Petroleum Services by Corinthian Capital Group.

Sierra provides engineering and consulting services to the oil and gas industry and specializes in wellbore-construction project management.  The company is headquartered in Midland, TX (www.sierra-engineering.net).

“We are pleased to be partnering once again with Corinthian Capital professionals and look forward to working with Sierra and its management team,” said Jeff Sangalis, managing director of ORIX Mezzanine and Private Equity Investments.

ORIX Mezzanine & Private Equity (OMPE) provides mezzanine debt and/or equity capital to lower middle market companies throughout the United States.  As a business unit of Dallas-based ORIX USA, OMPE makes investments from $5 million to $25 million in a wide variety of businesses and geographic areas for buyouts, mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations and refinancings, and growth and expansions situations.  Investments are with companies owned by equity sponsor groups, fundless sponsors, family owned companies, and directly with management teams.  ORIX Mezzanine & Private Equity is based in Dallas (www.orixmpe.com) (www.orixpe.com).

“Sierra has emerged as a leading provider of oil and gas engineering and consulting services and has a very strong brand.  I am confident that, with Sierra’s impressive management team, we can help position the company to expand and grow domestically as well as abroad,” said C. Kenneth Clay, senior managing director of Corinthian Capital.

Corinthian Capital invests in niche manufacturing, distribution, and service businesses with EBITDAs between $10 million and $30 million located primarily in North America.  Corinthian Capital is based in New York with offices located in Chicago and Boston (www.corinthiancap.com).

© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 2-1-13

Huron Acquires Anoba Consulting Services

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Hughes Associates, a fire protection engineering consulting firm and a portfolio company of Huron Capital Partners, has acquired Anoba Consulting Services, a niche engineering firm.

“Anoba is a highly-regarded name in the probabilistic risk assessment field and we believe it fits well into the strategic acquisition plan that we are currently pursuing in partnership with Huron Capital,” said Phil DiNenno, CEO of Hughes Associates.

Anoba Consulting Services is a niche engineering firm specializing in probabilistic risk assessment (“PRA”) and other highly-technical risk-modeling services.  Mandated by the federal government, the company utilizes analytical software programs and risk models that allow nuclear power plants to assess the underlying operational risks in their business and the potential impact of catastrophic events.  The company is based in Raleigh, NC (www.anobaconsulting.com).

Prior to the acquisition, Anoba had been a strategic partner for Hughes, often serving as a subcontractor on its nuclear power generation consulting projects.  The transaction brings Anoba and Hughes together and expands Hughes’ capabilities in the rapidly growing PRA industry.

“We are thrilled to join forces with Rick Anoba and his industry leading team of PRA engineers.  The acquisition extends our presence in another high-growth, niche engineering segment of the industry and provides opportunities to generate new revenue streams from new and existing customers,” said Liz Kleinsorg, Managing Director of Hughes’ Power Division.

Hughes Associates is a fire protection engineering consulting firm providing a suite of services supporting the fire protection needs of its clients including building and fire code consulting, fire protection design services, nuclear and power consulting, and litigation support services. Hughes serves a customer base comprised of government and commercial clients across a variety of end-markets including nuclear power, education, healthcare and others. The company is based in Baltimore, MD (www.haifire.com).

Huron originally invested in Hughes in May 2011, and was attracted to Hughes’ market leading position in the fire protection engineering market and ability to serve as a platform for growth. “When we invested in Hughes, our plan was to build the business both through strategic acquisitions and internal growth.  We continue to deliver on that plan with this second add-on and look forward to pursuing additional opportunities with Phil DiNenno and the rest of the Hughes management team,” said Huron Partner Peter Mogk.

Huron Capital Partners invests up to $70 million per transaction in middle market companies that have revenues up to $300 million and EBITDAs of $5 million or more. Typical transaction values are from $20 million to $200 million.  Sectors of interest include niche manufacturing, distribution and business services. Since its founding in 1999, Huron has acquired or invested in 60 companies with aggregate revenues in excess of $1 billion. Huron Capital currently manages over $600 million in committed equity through three private equity funds, and has offices in Detroit and Toronto (www.huroncapital.com).

© 2012 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 12-13-12