Summary
Industry | Select Recent M&A Activity
- M&A: CIRCOR Reliability Services business, a leading provider of critical lubrication management, chemical flushing services, and oil misting equipment to leading customers in Oil and Gas, Refining, Petrochemical, Power Generation, Industrial, Military and Maritime markets has been acquired by Audax Private Equity. Harris Williams served as the sole advisor in the transaction.
- M&A: Osmose Utilities Services, a leading provider of critical inspection, maintenance and restoration services for utility and telecom infrastructure in the U.S. has been acquired by EQT Infrastructure. Osmose Utilities Services was previously a portfolio company of Kohlberg & Co. Harris Williams advised Osmose Utilities Services in the transaction.
- M&A: MineralSoft, a software platform designed to make managing mineral, royalty, and non-operated working interests easier and more profitable has been acquired by Drillinginfo. Drillinginfo is a portfolio company of Genstar Capital.
- M&A: Pro-Vac, a leading environmental, infrastructure, and municipal services provider in the Pacific Northwest is being acquired by RLJ Equity Partners. Pro-Vac is a portfolio company of Brown Gibbons Lang & Company.
- M&A: A&L Industrial Services, a leading provider of scaffolding, insulation and industrial coating services to refineries, petrochemical plants and liquified natural gas facilities across the Gulf Coast has been acquired by Hastings Equity Partners.
- M&A: Lyndon Scaffolding, a U.K. based provider of comprehensive access solutions for the commercial construction, industrial, and infrastructure markets has been acquired by BrandSafway. BrandSafway is a portfolio company of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice.
Public Markets | Key Trading Statistics1
What We’re Reading
Oil & Gas | The Permian Basin Continues to Drive Record U.S. Energy Growth
“Despite recent low crude prices and a significant drop in the DrillingInfo rig count during January, the giant Permian Basin of West Texas and Southeast New Mexico continues to expand its role as the main driver of energy growth in North America. In just the past week, we have seen the following significant events that are attributable all or in part to what has become the world's second most-productive oil and gas resource. Early last week, Exxon also broke ground on a major expansion of its Beaumont refinery, a project that will add the capability of processing an additional 250,000 bopd and make it the largest refinery in the country. The new refining train being installed will be fit for processing the light, sweet crude produced in the Permian Basin and other North American shale plays, a growing volume of which must currently be exported in order to be refined. Meanwhile, Chevron confirmed on February 1 that it was acquiring the interest in the Pasadena Refining System owned by Petrobras America Inc. This purchase gives Chevron an additional 110,000 bopd of capacity to refine its own light sweet crude. ”
Infrastructure | Scientists Use Smartphones to Improve Dismal Rating of Nation’s Infrastructure
“In the United States, aging civil infrastructure systems are deteriorating on a massive scale. A recent report by the American Society of Civil Engineers gave these systems a D+ rating nationwide on an A – F scale. Now scientists at the University of Missouri have developed smartphone-based technologies that can monitor civil infrastructure systems such as crumbling roads and aging bridges. Based on estimations, researchers say the failure of civil infrastructure systems, such as roads and bridges, could cause a 1 percent reduction in the U.S. GDP. In 2017, that number was $200 billion. The challenges of the aging civil infrastructure systems suggest the need for developing innovative monitoring solutions. By using various sensors on smartphones such as a gyroscope, an accelerometer to measure speed, and camera, or tiny external sensors such as an infrared sensor, scientists can determine the specific makeup and deterioration of a road's surface in real-time.”
Utilities | How to Engage Utility Customers in an On-Demand Culture
“Engaging customers in utility programs has never been more important—but it’s also never been more complex. Rapid advances in technology have changed nearly every aspect of our lives, from how we shop to how we form relationships to, yes, how we use energy. As consumers adapt to these changes, wise utilities are paying attention—not just to advances specific to the energy sector, but also to the new ways people communicate and consume information. Utilities now have the ability to deliver reliable, energy-efficient solutions and balance the grid in real time with distributed energy resources (DERs), demand response (DR) programs and energy efficiency measures. That means consumers can now be personally involved in saving energy and money—and optimizing the grid—in truly innovative ways. But with rapid progress comes the potential for massive confusion. Which may be why, despite stated interest in conserving energy, most consumers never take the plunge and sign up for the energy-saving and energy management programs their utilities offer.”
Oil & Gas | Who Will Get Citgo?
“A dispute over a $626,860 deposit at Wells Fargo & Co. during the Chinese Revolution offers a glimpse into who may eventually control Citgo Petroleum in the current Venezuelan power struggle. Juan Guaido, the head of the National Assembly, is trying to wrest ownership of Houston-based Citgo away from the current Venezuelan regime led by the autocrat Nicolas Maduro. To obtain Citgo, Guaido has said he plans to name a new board of directors for both the state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela and Citgo, its U.S. subsidiary. That would produce a nightmarish legal situation: One company having two parallel boards of directors, each claiming to be the true management. And making it even more tortuous, Citgo is a U.S.-registered corporation but is owned, at least indirectly, by a foreign government. So U.S. courts will likely be called upon to settle the matter.”
Utilities | Duke Energy, OpenFMB and Building a ‘Smartphone for the Grid’
“For the past six years, utility giant Duke Energy and a who’s-who list of corporate partners have been working on a technology known as an Open Field Message Bus, or OpenFMB. This standard is meant to allow smart meters, solar inverters, battery controllers, distribution grid control systems and communications network nodes to use their on-board computing power to solve edge-of-grid problems that happen too fast for centralized grid control systems to manage. Duke and its growing list of OpenFMB partners have used the analogy of a “smartphone for the grid” to describe their long-range goal. It’s an analogy that’s caught on in the utility industry, which has long relied on specialized, largely proprietary technologies, but is seeking to capture the advantages of the latest advances in IT. In particular, Duke and its OpenFMB partners are trying to solve the problem of how to coordinate thousands of individual rooftop solar PV systems, behind-the-meter batteries, and other grid-edge systems to work in real time with the utility smart grid platforms they’re connected to. ”
Public Markets Overview
Energy Equipment and Services1
Power Equipment and Services1
Infrastructure Services1
Industry Statistics
Commodity Prices1
Rig Counts3
Construction Spend4
Construction Indicators5,6
ABI: Derived from the AIA’s monthly Work-on-the-Boards survey, an index score above 50 denotes increased billing from prior month,
and vice versa.
DMI: 12-month indicator of future construction spending and demand for construction products / services.
Our Group
Harris Williams is a leading advisor to the energy, power, and infrastructure M&A market. Our Energy, Power & Infrastructure Group has experience across a broad range of sectors, including services, products, and technologies that support or enhance energy and power infrastructure.
Energy
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- Coal Products and Services
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Power
- Power Products and Technology
- Electric and Natural Gas
- Transmission and Distribution
- Energy Efficiency and Clean Technology
- Renewable Energy Services and Equipment
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Infrastructure
- Industrial and Infrastructure Services
- Engineering and Construction
- Environmental Services
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1. FactSet
2. MergerMarket
3. Baker Hughes
4. U.S. Department of Commerce
5. American Institute of Architects
6. Dodge Data & Analytics
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