Infrastructure Acquisitions

Funds managed by Harvest Partners completed the acquisition of Road Safety Services, Inc. from Parallel49 Equity. Road Safety Services, headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, provides pavement marking and other road safety-related infrastructure services across 15 U.S. states. The company’s management team, led by CEO Mike Johnson, will continue to lead the business and remain significant owners; financial terms were not disclosed.

Berkshire Partners made a majority growth investment in TowerNorth, an independent developer, owner, and operator of critical wireless infrastructure assets across the United States and Europe. The transaction was private and financial terms were not disclosed. Founding investor Wincove Private Holdings also re-invested in the deal.

Grain Management, LLC acquired 55 Hereford Street, a 127,000-square-foot Tier III data center property in Brampton, Ontario (near Toronto). The acquisition was completed in partnership with StratCap, which will co-invest by taking a minority stake and will manage the overall facility. Financial terms were not disclosed.

SMC Infrastructure Partners acquired infrastructure investment platform InfraNext Partners to expand its senior management team and deepen its infrastructure investing capabilities. InfraNext’s M&A and development pipeline is expected to accelerate strategic initiatives across SMC’s platform, and InfraNext founders Scott Troeller and Joseph Dunfee are joining SMC in leadership roles.

APP Jet Center announced the acquisition of fixed-base operator (FBO) operations at Witham Field Airport in Stuart, Florida. The acquisition expands APP’s network of aviation infrastructure locations and supports its growth strategy through complementary acquisitions. Ridgewood Infrastructure is referenced as an infrastructure investor in the background information, but no seller was disclosed.

SharpVue Capital, a Raleigh-based investment firm, agreed to acquire the remaining Mitchell family operations and related real estate assets from Bald Head Island Limited for $67.7 million. The transaction includes the Bald Head Island ferry and tram system, as well as a tug and freight barge operation and the Deep Point Parking facility in Southport, subject in part to regulatory approval by the North Carolina Utility Commission.

Ridgewood Infrastructure LLC announced the acquisition of APP Jet Center, a fixed-base operator that owns and operates aviation infrastructure in the United States. Ridgewood plans to partner with APP’s management team to support continued growth, both organically and through selective acquisitions.

Digital Realty signed a definitive agreement to acquire a majority of the stakes in Teraco Data Environments from Berkshire Partners and Permira. Berkshire Partners, the Permira funds, and existing investor van Rooyen Group will retain minority equity interests, and Teraco’s management team will continue to lead the business. The transaction is subject to customary South African regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the first half of 2022.

Sterling Investment Partners’ portfolio company AIMS Companies acquired two infrastructure services providers, Southwest Environmental, Inc. (SWE) and T. Gray Utility Co. The acquisitions expand AIMS’ ability to offer integrated municipal infrastructure inspection plus manhole protection, repair, rehabilitation, and related services, particularly across Arizona and Texas.

Quantela has acquired CIMCON Lighting, Inc., a provider of smart lighting and smart city technologies. The deal gives Quantela access to CIMCON’s streetlight pole infrastructure and smart lighting controllers to support urban infrastructure digitization and additional smart city applications. CIMCON is headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts, which will become Quantela’s new U.S. headquarters.

CAI Capital Partners signed a definitive agreement to sell its majority interest in Feeney Utility Services Group, a CAI Fund IV portfolio company, to Artera Services, LLC. Feeney, headquartered in Boston, provides maintenance, repair, and upgrade services to natural gas utilities in the northeastern United States, and its founders and key leadership will continue to lead operations under Artera. Transaction terms were not disclosed and closing was expected in July 2021 subject to customary conditions.

The Shaughnessy Group completed a sell-side mandate resulting in the sale of an unnamed integrated provider of water infrastructure solutions, with the transaction closing in January 2021. The sale process began in spring 2020 and was run as a competitive, confidential auction that concluded with a letter of intent and completion after due diligence.

3 Rivers Capital (3RC) acquired Aptus Group USA, a founder-owned infrastructure services provider headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. Aptus provides turnkey engineering and bridge-attached utility repair and maintenance services for utility companies, natural gas providers, and state DOTs across the United States. Aptus founder Scott T. Dill will remain CEO as 3RC partners with management to support expansion and continued growth.

Lincoln Rackhouse, the data center division of Lincoln Property Company, acquired colocation and managed services provider Bytegrid in a deal partnered with Principal Real Estate Investors. The transaction gives Rackhouse control of three Bytegrid data centers in the Washington, DC, Chicago, and Seattle markets and includes Bytegrid’s colocation, managed services, network, and hosting business. Rackhouse indicated the acquired business will be split to separate Bytegrid’s real estate assets from the services it provides.