Bernhard Capital Partners Flashcards
Bernhard Capital Partners
- Established in 2013
- Invests in services firms and infrastructure
- Deployed capital in 4 funds across several strategies
- AUM of $3.4 B
- Seeks to create value by leveraging its experience in acquiring, operating and growing services and infra businesses
Bernhard Capital Partners Announces Promotions
Chris Dillon to Partner
Julius Bedford to Managing Director
Patrick Bernhard to Managing Director
Matt Kowalczyk to Vice President
Trevor Sansone to Senior Associate
Chris Dillon
- Been with the firm since inception
- Promoted to partner in 2024
- IC member
- Involved in the following investments: Bernhard LLC, EPIC piping, Brown & Rootm Atlas technical consultants, Lemoine, Allied Power, Environmental Systems Groups and SE&C
Julius Bedfords
- Promoted to MD in 2024
- Primarily focused in infrastructure related investmenent activities
- Julius led the recently announced agreement to acquire the Entergy’s gas distribution business in Louisiana
- He serves on the board of National Water Infrastructure and Clear Current
Patric Bernhard
- Promoted to MD in 2024
- Worked on the investment into Grace Hebert Curtis Architechts (GHC) including three GHC add-on acquisitions
- Also worked in Optimum Energy
- Board member at GHC and EPIC piping
Bernhard Capital-Backed Grace Hebert Curtis Acquires BSSW Architects
- Acquired in late 2023
- GHC is an architeccture, engineering and construction (AEC) firm owned by Bernhard
- GHC acquired BSSW one of the largest architechtural firms in Southwest florida
- BSSW provides desing and consulting services including: feasibility studies, site analysis, building design, interior design and owner representation offering
- Customer base is primarily public sector agencies including school districts and city and county governments
- Office in Fort Myers and Naples
What is Bernhard’s dedicated Architechtural, Engineering & Construction (AEC) Platform?
- Bernhard launched this platform in Sept 2022 with the acquisition of GHC
- To date Bernhard has acquired BSSW and expanded the platform with partnerships with other AEC firms (BTA associates and Hahnfeld Hoffer Stanford)
- Investment strategy for the platform is to build an AEC platform with firms in strategic markets and capitalize in the education and hospitality infra markets
- Berhnard’s acquisition of Hahnfeld Hoffer Staffor provided deep expertise in education and civic expertise to the platform.
Entergy announces agreement to sell gas distribution business to Bernhard Capital Partners
-Deal announced in Oct 2023
- Entergy decide to sell to focus on the company’s growing electric business d
- Total enterprise value was $484mm subject to certain purchase price adjustments
- Entergy’s LA gas business serves 95k homes and business in Baton Rouge and 110k homes and businesess in New Orleans
- In addition to customary closing conditions the sale requires regulatory approvals from the LA Public Service Comission, the City of Baton Rouge, New Orleans City council.
- The sale is expected to close in ~21 months
Chris Ringswald
United Utility Services
Services:
- Specialty contracting firm serving power utilities. Services provided to utilities include: installation, repair and maintenance of electric underground and overhead distribution systems from residential service to lines rated up to 35kv. (distribution)
Competitive Edge:
- UI is one of the largest pure play power transmission and distribution services provider with 5 acquisitions completed to date, all of which have been negotiated on a bilateral basis.
- Over 80 years of experience servicing utilities
Acquisitions
he Company was established in 2018 through the acquisition of W.A. Chester and has grown to include additional brands and services. In 2020, United Utility acquired B&B Electrical & Utility Contractors, a comprehensive electrical contractor serving the southeast U.S. In 2021, the Company also acquired a minority investment in Baton Rouge-based E.P. Breaux Utility Services and later acquired Williams Electric Company, an overhead and underground power distribution contractor serving North and South Carolina. In 2023, United Utility acquired BHI Power Delivery, an industry-leading specialty utility transmission and distribution services provider.
Customers:
- Entergy
Recent News:
- Recenntly established headquarters in NOLA (909 Poydras) and creating 140 new jobs with a $13 mm annual payroll
- Plans to maitain offcies in FL and NC
Focus on investing in the electrical grid
- CEO: Ali Azad
- Underground transmission systems and overhead distributions
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BCP Impact in Lousiana
- BPC supports over 6,000 jobs in Louisiana
- BPC has invested over $1B dollars in the state
Why BPC?
- After several years investing in hard infrastructure assets I came to the conclusion that direct infra investments in hard assets produce low returns and are very capital intensive.
making 15% returns is very hard as most investors treat these assets as bond like returns with an operating risk premia. Therefore, investors in infra assets need to either have 1) low returns expectations 2) low cost of capital 3) take views on future value creation opportunities.
I think BPC’s strategy is very clever because it capitalizas in the energy transition theme but with a “picks-and shovels” approach that produces better returns with an asset-light approach.
Ultimately, infra service companies are intermediaries that will keep benefitting from the increase of public and private infrastructure spending we are going to see in the next decade.
Why Service Companies are interesting to you?
Service companies are attractive investments because
1) they provided an asset-light exposure to the infrastructure sectors without many of the risk and downside of infra investments
they are asset-light, have pricing models that allow them to pass inflationary preassures to its customers and generally operate in very fragmented industries that haven’t been consolidated where growth can be pursued through acquisitions.
Railworks
- Provider of several technical services for todays rail road infrastructure
- RailWorks builds and maintains rail transportation infrastructure that keeps people and goods moving across the United States and Canada.
What We Do:
- Rail Construction & Maintenance
- Signals & Communications
- Steel ties and turnouts via our NARSTCO division
- Maintenance of Way services
Our Customers:
- Transit authorities and transportation agencies/departments
- Railroads of all sizes
- Passenger and commuter rail lines
- Private industries serviced by rail
Maintenance of Way (MOW)
Track inspection
Project Mgmt and Construction
Financing
RailWorks Corp. on Nov. 4 priced a $325 million tranche of 8.25% seven-year senior secured second-lien notes at the tight end of guidance, according to market sources. Joint bookrunners were J.P. Morgan and BMO Capital Markets.
National Water Infrastructure
Brown & Root
Allied Power
Elevation
Clear Current
