Infrastructure Acquisitions in United States

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.

Boasso Global, Inc. and Q Super Holdings, Inc. (Quala) signed a definitive agreement to merge, creating a leading infrastructure services provider for the liquid bulk logistics industry across North America and Europe. The transaction is supported by a new investment from Boasso’s majority shareholder KKR, which will purchase shares from Advent International and provide additional growth capital to facilitate the combination.

DIF Capital Partners signed an agreement to acquire Tonaquint Data Centers, a data center provider focused on the Mountain West region of the United States and headquartered in St. George, Utah. Tonaquint’s management will retain a minority stake, and the investment will be made through DIF’s core-plus CIF III fund. The acquisition is intended to support Tonaquint’s continued growth through facility enhancements and expanded service offerings.

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.

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.

365 Data Centers acquired the data center facility at 500 Commack Road in Commack, Long Island from mindSHIFT Technologies (a Ricoh company). As part of the transaction, mindSHIFT will remain involved at the site and entered into a long-term colocation services agreement with 365, along with planned co-marketing and cross-selling efforts. Bank Street Group LLC served as exclusive financial advisor to mindSHIFT.

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.