Ardian to acquire Acousti Engineering

The Ardian North America Director Buyouts team has struck a deal to purchase a majority stake in Acousti Engineering Company of Florida, a specialty contractor of complex interior systems for commercial and institutional buildings. The purchase is from the Verner family and retiring members of the management team. The ongoing management team will continue to own a meaningful minority share of the business, according to the deal announcement. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The $100 billion Ardian launched its North America Direct Buyouts activity in October 2016, when it hired the team from Seven Mile Capital Partners. The $400 million fund that this investment will be housed in is targeting eight to 10 investments. The focus is on lower middle market buyouts, specifically middle market industrial and related business services companies in North America. As for Acousti, the custom construction company has 20 branches throughout Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Texas. Founded in 1943, the company has approximately 900 employees and an expertise in the healthcare, education, transportation, entertainment, office and infrastructure-related end markets. An example of Acousti engineering “Acousti is a market-leading interior finishing specialty subcontractor, ideally positioned to grow both within its existing geographic markets and to expand to new locations. Acousti’s highly capable leadership, blue-chip customer base, and broad capabilities give us great confidence in the company’s potential. We foresee significant further expansion opportunities for the company ahead,” said Kevin Kruse, managing director at Ardian North America Direct Buyouts. Ardian’s investment will facilitate a transition of the senior management team: Randy Keller will become the president and chief executive officer, Bill Carballo will become the executive vice president and chief operating officer and Chris Robertson will become the chief financial officer. Keller has been at Acousti for 34 years and is currently a vice president and the director of operations. Carballo has been with Acousti for 27 years and is currently a vice president and the regional manager of Southeast Florida. Robertson has been with Acousti for seven years and is currently the controller. “Randy, Bill and Chris collectively have decades of experience working at Acousti,” said Todd Welsch, director at Ardian North America Direct Buyouts. “We are excited to partner with them to accelerate the growth rate of the business, while continuing to provide its existing customers with industry-leading levels of service.”

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