wastewater treatment services

Pritzker Quickly Adds to Valicor

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Valicor Environmental Services, a provider of non-hazardous wastewater treatment services and a portfolio company of Pritzker Private Capital, has acquired Strength Environmental. Valicor was acquired by Pritzker Private Capital from Wind Point Partners in July 2019.

Strength Environmental operates a centralized wastewater treatment facility near Detroit in Inkster, MI and provides waste treatment and disposal services, on-site industrial cleaning, and transportation services.

Customers of Strength are active in the automotive, industrial, energy, utilities, government, metals, chemicals, education, and healthcare sectors (www.strengthenvironmental.com).

Valicor provides non-hazardous wastewater treatment services to more than 5,000 customers throughout North America. The company’s services allow customers to meet federal, state and local regulations for disposing of oily water, leachate, soaps, line flush waste and similar waste streams. Valicor, led by CEO James Devlin, has 22 treatment facilities, more than 350 employees, and is headquartered north of Cincinnati in Monroe, OH (www.valicor.com).

The buy of Strength expands Valicor’s Midwest footprint and builds on its position as a leading wastewater treatment provider in the region. “We are very excited to expand Valicor’s leading network into Michigan,” said Mr. Devlin. “Valicor continues to expand into additional geographies in order to better serve both new and existing customers.”

Including the Strength acquisition, Valicor has now increased its number of centralized wastewater treatment facilities from 5 to 14 over the past 2 years. Valicor’s add-on acquisition strategy focuses on acquiring operators of centralized wastewater treatment facilities as well as other providers of waste management and environmental services, including materials recycling, used oil processing, product destruction, and landfill solidification. The company is actively looking to grow its national footprint.

“With the Strength acquisition, Valicor will be able to further penetrate a strategic adjacent market and enhance our service offering,” said Ryan Roberts, an investment partner with Pritzker Private Capital. “We continue to enthusiastically support James Devlin and the rest of the Valicor team as they expand Valicor’s national network and service offering to better serve its customers.”

Pritzker Private Capital (PPC) acquires North America-based middle-market companies that have enterprise values between $100 million and $750 million and EBITDA in excess of $15 million. Sectors of interest include manufactured products, services and healthcare. The firm is led by Tony Pritzker and the former investment and operating professionals of Pritzker Group Private Capital. In July 2018, PPC held a final closing of PPC Fund II LP at its hard cap of $1.8 billion. The firm has offices in Chicago and Los Angeles (www.PPCPartners.com).

© 2019 Private Equity Professional | September 18, 2019

Valicor Switches Sponsors

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Wind Point Partners has agreed to sell Valicor Environmental Services, a provider of non-hazardous wastewater treatment services, to Pritzker Private Capital. The transaction is expected to close later this month.

Wind Point partnered with waste management and environmental services executive James Devlin in June 2017 to acquire Valicor Environmental Services, a division of employee-owned Valicor Inc. As part of the transaction, Wind Point acquired all of Valicor’s wastewater and oil processing assets as well as ownership of the Valicor brand.

“When we acquired Valicor with James, we worked together to identify several actionable opportunities for growth and value creation. James proved to be an excellent fit to lead the business and he and his team did an outstanding job executing our value creation plan,” said Konrad Salaber, a managing director at Wind Point. “We are thankful to the entire Valicor team for helping us deliver a strong outcome for our investors and we wish them continued success alongside new ownership.”

During Wind Point’s two-year ownership period, Valicor’s revenue approximately doubled and margins were increased through a combination of organic growth, four add-on acquisitions, and several operational initiatives.  The add-on acquisitions included Spirit Services, an operator of a centralized wastewater treatment (CWT) facility located in Williamsport, MD (November 2018); Dagger Oil Recovery, an operator of a CWT facility located in Houston, TX (August 2018); Midstate Environmental Services, a Hutchins, TX-based operator of two CWT facilities and a provider of used oil collection and processing services throughout Texas and Oklahoma (November 2017); and Ultra Environmental, a Burlington, KY-based collector and processor of non-hazardous industrial wastewater (July 2017).

Today, Valicor provides non-hazardous wastewater treatment services to more than 5,000 customers throughout North America. The company’s services allow customers to meet federal, state and local regulations for disposing of oily water, leachate, soaps, line flush waste and similar waste streams. Valicor has 22 treatment facilities, more than 350 employees, and is headquartered north of Cincinnati in Monroe, OH (www.valicor.com).

CEO James Devlin and the rest of the Valicor management team will continue to lead the business under the ownership of Pritzker Private Capital. “I want to thank Wind Point and our board for their tremendous support over the last two years,” said Mr. Devlin. “Together we have built a market-leading business that is well-positioned to continue serving our customers, employees, and all stakeholders. We very much look forward to continuing our momentum in partnership with Pritzker Private Capital.”

“Valicor is a leader in non-hazardous wastewater treatment and has multiple avenues for growth, including organic initiatives and accretive acquisitions,” said Ryan Roberts, a Pritzker Private Capital investment partner. “We are delighted to partner with James Devlin and his team for the next chapter of Valicor’s growth. We believe the company represents an exceptional platform.”

Pritzker Private Capital (PPC) acquires North America-based middle-market companies that have enterprise values between $100 million and $750 million and EBITDA in excess of $15 million. Sectors of interest include manufactured products, services and healthcare. The firm is led by Tony Pritzker and the former investment and operating professionals of Pritzker Group Private Capital. In July 2018, PPC held a final closing of PPC Fund II LP at its hard cap of $1.8 billion. The firm has offices in Chicago and Los Angeles (www.PPCPartners.com).

Wind Point invests from $50 million to $100 million in companies with EBITDAs of at least $10 million. Industries of interest include business services, consumer products and industrial products. In June 2017, Wind Point held a final closing of its eighth fund, Wind Point Partners VIII LP, with $985 million of capital commitments. The fund exceeded its initial hard cap of $750 million and is the largest fund closing in Wind Point’s history. The firm was founded in 1984 and is based in Chicago (www.wppartners.com).

Kirkland & Ellis is serving as legal counsel to Valicor, while Houlihan Lokey is serving as lead financial advisor, and Raymond James is serving as co-financial advisor.

© 2019 Private Equity Professional | July 10, 2019