Apax acquires Contech

CONTECH® Construction Products Inc., a civil engineering site solutions products and services company based in Ohio, and funds advised by Apax Partners Worldwide, a private equity investment group, announced that Apax has completed its acquisition of a majority ownership interest in Contech. The transaction had a total enterprise valuation of more than $1 billion.

In addition, Contech has announced a realignment of its business. The new organization will consist of four operating divisions: Environmental Stormwater Solutions, Bridge Solutions, Earth Stabilization Solutions, and Drainage Solutions, as well as a new national sales organization, Contech Sales, that will be responsible for selling all of the company’s products.

The breadth of Contech’s product offering has grown significantly in the past five years, according to Godfrey Little, chief operating officer of Contech. “That growth requires that we now realign our business to ensure we maintain the proper marketing and customer focus. It will enable our engineering and commercial resources to be experts in the areas most important to our customers. Whether it’s a CON/SPAN bridge, a Vortechs stormwater treatment unit, or a Tensar geogrid, the realignment will provide our customers with a very clear, single-source contact and assure that our market-focused organization is providing the best in cutting edge products, technology, and cost-effective solutions,” Little said.

Contech is known for the design, manufacturing, and distribution of specialty construction products for the civil engineering infrastructure sector of the heavy construction industry. The company’s sales are approximately $750 million and have grown at a double-digit rate during the last five years.

Acquisition notes

Contech’s Earth Stabilization Solutions Business Division is headed by Bill Dawson, president. The ESS division includes responsibility for erosion control and soil stabilization solutions including Keystone Retaining Wall Systems, Armortec products, geotextiles, geosynthetics, and other partner-supplied earth-stabilization products. For additional information, see: www.apax.com.