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Teachers’ Private Capital Agrees To Buy Aquilex
Teachers' Private Capital is buying a company that has been involved in more than one secondary buyout.
October 6, 2008
Teachers’ Private Capital, the Toronto private equity arm of The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, said Monday that it has agreed to acquire industrial cleaning services company Aquilex Holdings from Harvest Partners.
Financial transaction terms between Teachers' Private Capital and Harvest, a New York private equity firm, were not disclosed. The acquirer said it had secured committed financing for the purchase including from an unidentified third party.
Officials from Ontario Teachers’ did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
"We are confident that the operations of Aquilex will be insulated from the recent challenges affecting the financial markets," said Erol Uzumeri, senior vice president at Teachers’ Private Capital, in regards to the firm’s financing of the acquisition.
Uzumeri said a variety of factors including Aquilex’s market-leading position, revenue and cash flow stability, and strong margins fit well with the firm’s investment criteria and presented an attractive investment opportunity.
The Canadian investment group’s acquisition will give it control of an Atlanta-based business that generated $550 million in annual revenue last year. Its 5,000 employees provide a range of cleaning, maintenance and repair services to nuclear power, petrochemical refining and other companies.
Morgan Stanley is serving as M&A advisor to Teachers' Private Capital, which is relying on Sullivan & Cromwell for counsel.
Harris Williams & Co. bankers Giles Tucker, Drew Spitzer, Jason Herzog and Matt White are serving as financial advisors to Harvest and Aquilex.
Harvest did not disclose its return on investment from the sale. Like the purchase by Teachers' Private Capital, Harvest’s acquisition also came through a secondary buyout. In February 2007, Houston private equity firm First Reserve sold the company to Harvest, also through a Harris Williams-led sale process, after having formed the energy services business six years earlier.
Three months after Harvest acquired it, Aquilex executed an add-on acquisition with its purchase of HydroChem Industrial Services from Los Angeles private equity firm Oaktree Capital Management. The purchase gave Aquilex a business providing industrial vacuuming, chemical cleaning and tank cleaning services for petroleum companies.
Teachers’ Private Capital’s purchase is slated to be completed in December.
Find out more information about people mentioned in this article from our People Database:
R. Giles Tucker
Andrew Spitzer
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