Spara Capital was the exclusive advisor for the follow-on acquisition of UTS Consultants Inc. by Oakville Hydro Corporation (OHC), in pursuit of its construction and related services growth strategy.
Founded in 1992, UTS Consultants operates out of Fergus and North Bay, Ontario and is a leading provider of engineering services to municipalities, telecommunications and power utility industries in Canada.
“We are very happy to welcome UTS Consultants to the Oakville Hydro Corporation group of companies,” said Rob Lister, President and CEO of Oakville Hydro Corporation. “We are focused on continually growing our business and UTS Consultants provides opportunities to deliver more high quality services to our customers.”
“UTS Consultants are emerging leaders in utility engineering services,” said Scott Mudie, Chief Operating Officer from OHC’s Competitive Energy Services Group. “Their reputation as highly-competent and trusted engineers aligns with our core values and their complementary service offerings provide significant synergies and business development opportunities for our existing group of companies,” he added.
This is the third transaction for OHC with Spara Capital Partners in the organization’s construction and related services growth strategy. In June 2013, OHC purchased St. Catharines based PVS Contractors Inc., which was followed closely by the December 2013 acquisition of London-based G-Tel Engineering. PVS and G-Tel were acquired to complement and grow OHC’s original platform start-up; El-Con Construction Inc., El-Con Construction specializes in underground utility infrastructure construction services and overhead telecommunications installations.
“UTS Consultants is a patent strategic fit with OHC’s utility services platform,” said Eric Waxman, Managing Director with Spara Capital. “UTS Consultants’ competency in engineering is a natural service extension to OHC’s current offerings and UTS Consultants’ solid customer base and strong leadership team made them a great addition to the growing OHC group of companies.”
“The Management team at OHC have found their groove in both acquisitions and post transaction business alignment, which in combination makes them a growing force in the utility services space,” continued Waxman.
Spara Capital, acted as exclusive advisor to OHC. “Spara has been integral to the execution of our acquisition growth strategy” commented Mudie, “They offer a rare value proposition; with their direct operational experience through affiliate company Spark Power, Spara Capital understands the important and sensitive issues facing buyers and sellers in the energy services space. They helped lead the acquisition process from start to finish and were tactful at guiding both parties through the process to a successful close. We look forward to our ongoing relationship with Team Spara”.
About Oakville Hydro Corporation
Oakville Hydro Corporation is a dynamic energy company with a portfolio of businesses that deliver power and energy-related services to residential and commercial customers in Oakville, across Ontario and elsewhere in Canada. The Municipality of the Town of Oakville, Ontario is the sole shareholder.
Oakville Hydro Corporation’s affiliate companies offer diversified products and services aligned with four strategic lines of business: Electricity Distribution, Construction and Related Services, Energy Services and Generation. Please visit www.oakvillehydrocorp.com for more information.