marine services

Rock Hill Acquires LeBlanc Marine

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Rock Hill Capital Group has acquired LeBlanc Marine, a provider of marine construction, barge & tug services, and material offloading services along the Gulf Coast.

LeBlanc Marine was founded in 2004 by its CEO Ben LeBlanc and began operations by providing barge cleaning and repair services as well as tug support from its primary facility in New Iberia, LA. Mr. LeBlanc partnered with Cody Fortier in 2015 to launch the company’s marine construction division which provides dredging services, levee construction, and coastal restoration.  Also in 2015, LeBlanc Marine began providing offloading services for many of its material vendors along the Gulf Coast and Mississippi River (www.leblancmarine.com).

“We believe Rock Hill’s involvement will provide the strategic insight and operational guidance needed for us to elevate to the next level. We are excited to have found a partner that recognizes the opportunity for growth and thinks about the business like we do,” said Mr. LeBlanc.

“Ben and Cody have built a robust platform to provide marine construction and ancillary services along the Gulf Coast. The LeBlanc team is highly entrepreneurial, we look forward to helping them broaden their geographic footprint and expand into new service offerings,” said Randall Hale, Managing Director of Rock Hill.

Rock Hill invests in small-to-lower middle market companies with enterprise values up to $75 million and EBITDA of $4 million to $10 million that are located in the South and Southeast regions of the US. Sectors of interest include industrial products and services. Rock Hill was founded in 2007 and is based in Houston (www.rockhillcap.com).

LeBlanc Marine represents the third investment by Rock Hill’s third fund which closed in January 2017 with $151 million in capital commitments. The firm’s earlier fund closed in 2013 with $88 million in commitments.

Debt financing for the buy of LeBlanc Marine was provided by BBVA Compass (www.bbvacompass.com).

© 2018 Private Equity Professional | February 8, 2018

TorQuest Partners Invests in McKeil Marine

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TorQuest Partners has made an investment in McKeil Marine, a Canadian provider of marine transportation and project services.

McKeil provides its transportation and project services to a range of customers and industry sectors across the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence Seaway, East Coast and the Canadian Arctic. The company is based near Toronto in Hamilton, ON (www.mckeil.com).

At closing of the transaction, Steve Fletcher, President, who has been with McKeil for 17 years, has been appointed President and Chief Executive Officer and Blair McKeil, previously Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, has assumed the role of Vice Chairman.

“This milestone event is a testament to our skilled and dedicated crew, our valued customers, service providers and industry partners,” said Mr. McKeil. “Enhancing our ability to sustain and accelerate our growth is a fantastic way to celebrate the company’s 60th anniversary. I am excited to remain an owner of the business and look forward to helping guide McKeil as it navigates its way to a stronger, better future. I believe the best is yet to come.”

“This is the eighth platform investment for TorQuest Partners Fund III and continues our strategy of partnering with exceptional management teams to build industry-leading businesses, while supporting their continued growth,” said Brent Belzberg, Senior Managing Partner at TorQuest.

“McKeil has earned a long-standing reputation as an entrepreneurial business, a skilled and safe operator and a reliable business partner for its customers” said Michael Hollend, a Partner at TorQuest. TorQuest looks forward to supporting McKeil’s growth initiatives as its people continue to do what they do best – operate a preeminent Canadian marine service provider.”

TorQuest was founded in 2002 and has over $2 billion of equity capital under management. In July 2016 the firm held an above target final closing of TorQuest Partners Fund IV at the fund’s hard cap of $925 million. The initial targeted amount was $750 million. TorQuest is headquartered in Toronto (www.torquest.com).

© 2016 Private Equity Professional • 10-28-16

J.F. Lehman Exits Drew Marine and ACR Electronics

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J.F. Lehman & Company has sold its portfolio company Drew Marine, a provider of maritime services, to The Jordan Company. Concurrent with the sale of Drew Marine, J.F. Lehman also sold its portfolio company ACR Electronics to The Jordan Company.

Drew Marine, acquired by J.F. Lehman from Ashland Inc. in August 2009, is a supplier of marine water treatment, maintenance, welding and refrigeration, fuel treatment and fire, safety and rescue products and services to ship owners, ship managers and shipyards. The company is headquartered in Whippany, NJ and employs approximately 325 people (www.drew-marine.com).

Since acquiring Drew Marine in 2009, J.F. Lehman worked with the company’s management team to reinvigorate Drew Marine’s core business of providing global maritime customers (representing over 11,000 ocean-going vessels) with products and services across approximately 1,000 port locations in 50 countries around the world. These organic growth initiatives were augmented by two add-on acquisitions which increased Drew Marine’s product portfolio, customer base and distribution channels.

“We are proud of the profitable growth and expansion that Drew Marine has achieved over the past four years,” said Len Gelosa, President and Chief Executive Officer of Drew Marine. “J.F. Lehman has been instrumental in helping solidify our reputation and brand portfolio, expand our capabilities through organic growth and acquisition, improve our infrastructure and recruit key talent to our team. We look forward to continuing this momentum under The Jordan Company.”

“Our successful partnership with management since 2009 enabled Drew Marine to firmly establish a proven track record as an industry leader. In addition, the sale of Drew Marine represents an excellent outcome for our investors, whose support has been essential to our organization’s continuing success,” said Louis Mintz, Chairman of Drew Marine and a Partner at J.F. Lehman.

Simultaneous with the sale of Drew Marine, J.F. Lehman also sold its portfolio company ACR Electronics to The Jordan Company. ACR Electronics, acquired by J.F. Lehman in July 2012, is a provider of safety and survival products including emergency rescue beacons and safety and signaling lighting to aviation, marine, military and outdoor recreation markets worldwide. The company is headquartered in Ft. Lauderdale, FL (www.acrelectronics.com).

J.F. Lehman & Company is a middle-market private equity firm focused primarily on the maritime, defense, and aerospace sectors. The firm was founded by Dr. John Lehman, who served six years as Secretary of the United States Navy. To date, J.F. Lehman has made investments in companies with an aggregate transaction value of approximately $1.6 billion. The firm was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in New York with additional offices in Washington, DC and London (www.jflpartners.com).

The Jordan Company is a middle-market private equity firm with over $6 billion of assets under management. The firm is headquartered in New York and has offices in Chicago and Shanghai (www.thejordancompany.com).

Evercore Group and Rothschild served as financial advisors to J.F. Lehman and Jones Day provided legal counsel.

© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 11-20-13