U.S. Water Services Corporation Acquires Ramboll Americas O&M Solutions, LLC, a National Leader in Providing Industrial Water/Wastewater Systems Operations and Maintenance and Services
The Acquisition Marks U.S. Water’s Expansion into the Industrial Water/Wastewater Services Market
NEW PORT RICHEY, FL, January 18, 2022 – U.S. Water Services Corporation (“USW”), a provider of water/wastewater utility management, operations and maintenance services, announced today that it acquired Ramboll Americas O&M Solutions, LLC (the “Company”), a subsidiary of the Ramboll Group of companies and a leader in providing water/wastewater asset management, operations, maintenance and repair services to industrial customers. The Company is a recognized leader in the industrial water/wastewater contract operations business led by a strong management team and boasting a highly experienced and dedicated team of operators and maintenance professionals including mechanics, control system technicians, pipe fitters, heavy equipment operators, welders and electricians. The Company is a winner of numerous awards for environmental compliance and operational excellence and the developer of a unique Process Control Monitoring Tool valued by an expanding Fortune 500 company customer base.
This acquisition results in the establishment of USW Industrial Group, a division of USW which will be focused on serving industrial customers. The acquisition of the Company adds 100+ highly skilled professionals led by an outstanding management team and provides USW with a broader and more diverse range of technical expertise, access to proprietary state-of -the art system management tools and an expanded national footprint. The combined business will be comprised of 700 professionals serving 800 facilities and operating in 18 states. In addition, as part of the acquisition, USW and Ramboll are establishing a strategic alliance focused on providing customers with a full complement of utility assets lifecycle services with flexible delivery methods tailored to suit customer needs.
Established in 2003, USW is a 100% employee-owned Florida corporation and Florida’s largest water and wastewater operations and maintenance firm, with disciplines that include full utility management services, billing/collections and customer service, utility construction, design and design build services. In addition to Florida, USW is operating in Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Oklahoma and Texas. With the acquisition of the Company, USW’s operations will expand into Colorado, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
Ramboll is a global engineering, architecture and consultancy company founded in Denmark in 1945.
Ramboll’s 16,000 experts create sustainable solutions across Buildings, Transport, Water, Environment & Health, Architecture & Landscape, Energy and Management Consulting. With a diverse network of engineers, designers and consultants across the Americas and around the world, Ramboll leverages local and global expertise to create sustainable, comprehensive and integrated solutions for its clients. Ramboll supports the UN Sustainable Development goals and is an industry leader in digitalization and innovation.
“The acquisition of Ramboll’s O&M business is a key element to U.S. Water’s strategic growth plan providing for diversified service offerings, operating synergies, and expansion of our national footprint into 12 additional states,” said Gary Deremer USW CEO. “Ramboll’s highly professional and competent management team will be a valued addition to U.S. Water’s existing leadership, all who are committed to offering our customers the highest level of client satisfaction. We are excited to add Ken Jones and Ron Benderski to the group of U.S. Water shareholders, and we welcome all Ramboll O&M employees to U.S. Water.”
Jeff Rogers, Ramboll’s Americas Water Director, stated: “We look forward to working closely with U.S. Water as a strategic partner as we continue to deliver integrated design-build projects to our industrial clients. This partnership not only will provide additional O&M resources and capabilities to support our ongoing work, but also the capability to expand our service offering to our public sector clients.”
USW Industrial Group will be led by Ken Jones and Ron Benderski. “This transaction is a great fit for our respective companies,” said Ken Jones. “The opportunities we will have, along with the additional resources we can leverage by merging into U.S. Water, which is focused on O&M as its core business, is very exciting. I am proud and honored to lead our team with this move to U.S. Water and certainly appreciate that Ramboll and U.S. Water have worked so hard with our team to make it happen in such a positive way”.
Dan Elias, a 30+ year veteran in the O&M business, has been the key facilitator behind the transaction. Dan will be joining Ken, Ron and the USW team as USW Sr. Vice President of Strategy and Growth tasked with leading USW’s expansion and growth efforts.
Duane Morris LLP served as legal advisor to USW. Barclay Damon LLP served as the legal advisor to Ramboll. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
