Vinci Energies acquires PrimeLine Utility Services

Vinci Energies, the Vinci subsidiary specialising in energy and information and communication technology (ICT) services, has reached an agreement with private equity investment firm First Reserve and PrimeLine Utility Services management to acquire the company.

The agreement, which covers acquisition of all PrimeLine Utility Services shares, is subject to approval by the US regulatory authorities.

In the US, PrimeLine Utility Services is a leading provider of engineering, comprehensive new construction, maintenance, repair and upgrade services for the electric grid (transmission, substation and distribution), as well as a similarly broad suite of turnkey services for natural gas utilities. In the telecommunications market, services focus on building out wireless and wireline network infrastructure. PrimeLine Utility Services operates from 50 sites across 25 states in the US. The company employs 2,900 people and serves more than 150 customers. PrimeLine Utility Services generated US$506 million pro forma in revenue in 2016.

This acquisition reflects Vinci Energies’ strategy of deploying its business activities in North America and expanding the energy infrastructure activities provided by its Omexom brand. In the US, Vinci Energies already operates in the industrial and telecommunication sectors, especially through its subsidiaries INP, Redtoo and Mentor.

Vinci energies chairman and chief executive officer Yves Meignié said: “With this significant acquisition, Vinci Energies ends a year of highly intensive external growth aimed at gaining a foothold in new regions and continuing to develop the business. With the acquisition of PrimeLine Utility Services, our Omexom brand is strengthened and becomes a global provider operating on all the continents and representing a revenue of nearly €3 billion (US$3.5 billion).”

The US constitutes the Vinci Group’s fourth-largest market. The group’s subsidiaries Vinci Concessions, Vinci Construction, Eurovia and Vinci Energies all operate there. In December 2016, Vinci officially opened its first public-private partnership highway in the US, the Ohio River Bridges East End Crossing, which links Indiana and Kentucky. At the end of 2016, Eurovia won the contract to renovate and widen the I-85 interstate highway in Spartanburg and Cherokee Counties, South Carolina.