One Equity Partners (OEP), a middle market private equity firm, has agreed to acquire the North American operations of AMECO, a full-service provider of construction equipment, scaffolding, small tools management and total site solutions, from Fluor Corporation for USD73 million.
Headquartered in Greenville, SC, AMECO provides construction projects with full lifecycle management of their asset optimisation and craft workforce support needs from consultative pre-bid estimates, to site services and ongoing site maintenance support. AMECO serves capital construction project owners, contractors and ongoing plant operators in the chemical, power, energy, life sciences and advanced manufacturing sectors across the US and Canada.
OEP has partnered with industry veteran Gary Bernardez who led AMECO from 2001 to 2012 and will become CEO of AMECO upon the transaction’s closing. “We are thrilled to be partnering with Gary and the entire AMECO team on this next phase of the Company’s development as an independent entity,” says Joseph Huffsmith, Managing Director, OEP. “For over 70 years AMECO has been helping customers manage their most complex equipment and site service needs. Working with the management team, we look forward to building upon that legacy.”
As a standalone company, AMECO will seek to grow its customer base by delivering construction asset management and site services focused on enhancing craft productivity and cost certainty to site operators and engineering, procurement and construction customers.
“We’re excited about our partnership with OEP, a firm with an excellent reputation and proven experience in building industrial services businesses into market leaders,” says Bernardez. “We are looking forward to leveraging AMECO’s significant experience on construction sites and operating facilities to more broadly serve the market as we transition to an independently-operated business.”
OEP has a track record of acquiring businesses across its core sectors, including industrial companies through corporate carve-outs. OEP acquired ORS Medco, a wholesaler of maintenance and repair focused non-discretionary and consumable industrial and automotive aftermarket products, from Essendant Inc in October 2019; and Walterscheid Powertrain Group, a provider of original equipment and aftermarket parts and services for off-highway powertrain applications, from GKN Limited in June 2019, among others.
CMD Global Partners served as financial advisor and Baker & McKenzie LLP as legal counsel to OEP, while KPMG LLP served as accounting and tax advisor. PNC Capital Markets LLC is providing debt financing for the transaction.
