Harris Williams & Co. announces that SAE Towers Holdings, LLC (SAE Towers), a portfolio company of ACON Investments, LLC (ACON), has been acquired by India-based strategic buyer KEC International Limited (KEC) for approximately $95 million. The transaction closed on September 22, 2010. Harris Williams & Co. acted as the exclusive advisor to SAE Towers. The transaction was led by John Arendale, along with Tiff Armstrong, Brian Lucas and Luke Semple from the firm's Energy & Power Group.

SAE Towers is a leading manufacturer of transmission lattice towers, steel poles and related hardware serving the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Latin America. The company's combined annual production capacity is 100,000 metric tons separated at two locations - Mexico (35,000 metric tons) and Brazil (65,000 metric tons). SAE Towers owns a tower testing station in Brazil and has facilities for Engineering & Design in the U.S. and in Brazil.

Founded in 1996, ACON is a private equity investment firm focused on U.S. and Latin America with over $1.5 billion of capital under management. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., ACON has offices and investment professionals throughout the Americas including Mexico City and Sao Paulo.

KEC, a RPG Group company based in Mumbai, India, is one of the largest power transmission Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) companies in the world. Apart from transmission, it has a significant presence in power distribution, cables, telecom and railway infrastructure. KEC is a listed company on major Indian stock exchanges and has annual turnover of approximately $850 million. KEC has completed transmission line projects in over 40 countries and has expertise in handling mega EPC projects across the globe in diverse terrain.