PLH Group acquired by Primoris Services Corporation

Primoris Services Corporation agreed on 27 June 2022 to acquire PLH Group from Energy Capital Partners for $470m in cash, an EV/EBITDA multiple of 5x–12x on the twelve months to May before synergies. Completion was expected in the third quarter, subject to regulatory approvals, and chief executive Peter Sandore and members of his management joined Primoris. Headquartered in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, PLH Group builds and maintains electricity networks across the United States and Canada: transmission lines, distribution circuits and substations, including the foundations they stand on and the helicopter operations some installations require. It also restores supply after storms and maintains gas distribution pipes for investor-owned utilities. Revenue reached $450–900M with an adjusted EBITDA of $50–100M over the twelve months to 31 May 2022. Around 61% of the power line revenue arises under master service agreements, covering a volume of small jobs averaging 170,000 dollars rather than individual large contracts. That distinction matters to a contractor’s risk: a fixed-price construction project can lose money on a single estimate, whereas work ordered against an agreed schedule of rates recurs year after year at predictable margins. American electricity networks require sustained investment, more than 45% of the transmission and distribution infrastructure being beyond its design life, with 240 billion dollars of replacement projected over two decades, while 337,000 miles of gas mains have been in service for over fifty years. The acquisition nearly doubled Primoris’s power delivery activity and took its utilities segment beyond half of pro forma revenue, while raising the share of revenue under master service agreements from 46% to 48%. Energy Capital Partners had held PLH Group since 2009 and completed twelve acquisitions through it by 2014. UBS advised Primoris, with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher as legal counsel, while Stifel advised PLH Group, with K&L Gates as counsel.