BATON ROUGE, La., March 1, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — A group of investors led by Bernhard Capital Partners Management, LP (“Bernhard Capital”), a services-focused private equity management firm, today announced that it has acquired W.A. Chester from Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC). Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
W.A. Chester began as the Henry Ihle Company, which was founded in Canada in the 1930’s, and has grown to become the industry-leading electrical contractor for installation, maintenance and repair of underground high voltage cable transmission and distribution systems. W.A. Chester primarily operates out of its headquarters in Lanham, MD and field offices in Washington, D.C. and Charles Town, WV, from which W.A. Chester executes projects nationwide. W.A. Chester became part of Exelon through the merger of Pepco Holdings, Inc. and Exelon Corporation in March 2016.
Through its newly formed T&D services platform, Bernhard Capital intends to deploy additional capital to add capabilities that will complement W.A. Chester’s leadership in underground transmission and distribution services. The W.A. Chester management team will be led by Frank Musick, who currently serves as Senior Vice President and COO. Robert Thompson, who currently serves as President and CEO, will retire on March 31st and will continue to support W.A Chester in an advisory capacity. W.A. Chester will continue to operate out of its Lanham, MD headquarters.
“We are thrilled to acquire W.A. Chester, which has established itself as a premier electrical contractor over the past 90 years,” said Ali Azad, Operating Partner at Bernhard Capital. “We look forward to working with W.A. Chester’s talented management team to drive their continued success as a premier transmission and distribution specialty contractor.”
“This transaction allows W.A. Chester to continue its focus on its core market of installation and maintenance of underground high-voltage transmission cable and underground distribution infrastructure for electric utilities,” said Ron DeGregorio, President, Exelon Power. “We look forward to W.A. Chester’s continued success under its new ownership.”
The transaction was finalized on February 28, 2018.
