Bernhard Capital Partners has sold a Baton Rouge pipe fabrication business to a New York based firm, marking the second time the private equity firm has sold a longtime portfolio company to the group.
New York based One Equity Partners will purchase United WELD Holdings, the parent company of Epic Piping, in a deal expected to close by the end of the year. Epic Piping CEO Remi Bonnecaze said in a release that One Equity Partners has the ability to scale the pipe fabrication business, which had been with Bernhard Capital Partners since 2014.
The companies did not disclose the financial terms of the sale. Steel fabrication and induction bending company BendTec has also been under United WELD Holdings’ umbrella since 2021.
One Equity Partners, a former affiliate of JP Morgan, manages about $10 billion in assets, focusing on businesses in the technology, healthcare and industrial sectors. About a year ago, the firm announced it had purchased Bernhard’s stake in Baton Rouge based industrial service provider Brown & Root, which was one of the first companies in its portfolio.
Epic Piping, one of the largest pipe fabrication businesses in the world, announced late last year it would spend $25 million to upgrade to its Livingston facility, a move that would add nearly 80 jobs to their overall team of about 2,000. The expansion will support the state’s burgeoning energy and data center industries, which have influenced expansions at other metal fabrication companies in the Capital Region including Pipe & Steel Industrial and The Shaw Group, founded by Bernhard Capital Partners founder Jim Bernhard.
Epic Piping is headquartered in Baton Rouge and has a distribution facility in Texas, with other hubs in Livingston, Lake Providence, San Marcos, Texas and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Ante Kusurin, partner at One Equity Partners, said in a release that the firm can help Epic Piping continue to grow with their investments in the energy sector and “sustained infrastructure.”
“Pipe fabrication work has shifted from being predominantly field-based to in-house due to labor advantages enabling quicker completion of projects, and Epic has emerged as a leader with the required scale, certifications, and execution capabilities to compete for large, complex projects,” Kusurin said in a release.
This year, Bernhard Capital Partners has announced the sale of two other portfolio companies including surety carrier The Gray Casualty & Surety Company and United Utility Services. They also announced the acquisition of utility service Spire Inc.’s natural gas business, power company Cleco and consulting firm ECM Consultants.
