About the Company:
Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Stone Mountain, Georgia by Barry Bennett, Metals & Materials Engineers, LLC focuses on three core divisions for infrastructure related projects: Wastewater, Storm Water, and Water Distribution Systems. The Company’s wide range of disciplines include specializations in utility services; civil engineering; sewer system evaluation surveys; sanitary sewer flow monitoring; piping CCTV evaluations; manhole raising and rehabilitations; water meter and line replacements; and ground penetrating radar services. MME provides infrastructure services to county, municipal and state government entities primarily in the Southeastern United States, with a majority focus in the state of Georgia.
Sell-Side Mandate:
The Lenox Group was introduced to Mr. Barry Bennett and his team by his wealth management relationship. Barry was at an inflection point in business ownership and he had been approached by a competitor to be acquired. Lenox met with the MME team to perform a market valuation of the business, as well as present different liquidity scenarios, and discuss who the best buyer(s) might be. From there, Lenox was engaged to sell the business. The Lenox transaction team worked with MME to create marketing materials on the business, build a financial model, develop a refreshed tracking methodology for active projects, undergo a quality of earnings, market the Company to prospective buyers, negotiate deal points, administer management presentations, negotiate Working Capital, and complete all aspects of transaction due diligence in order to close.
Outcome:
The Lenox Group successfully helped MME complete a Majority Recapitalization of the business with AllClear Underground Solutions (“AllClear”), a portfolio Company of Baltimore based Crescentia Capital and Washington, D.C. based Blue Marlin Partners. AllClear is a provider of open-cut water and wastewater pipe repair, cementitious and epoxy-based manhole and asset rehabilitation, trenchless cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) lining, closed-circuit television (CCTV) pipe inspection, and other underground rehabilitation services. The transaction allowed AllClear to expand into the Atlanta metro area and allowed MME to find a partner that could assist the Company in expansion, while providing an exciting home for MME team. Mr. Bennett rolled equity as part of the consideration. Following the transaction, Mr. Bennett was able to transition his day-to-day owner responsibilities to AllClear and remain active in the business to focus on growing the combined operations.