Blackstone has announced that its private equity funds will be making a majority investment in Westwood Professional Services, Inc. (“Westwood”), a leading engineering and design firm specialising in renewables, power, real estate, and public infrastructure in the United States.
Blackstone will acquire its stake in Westwood from Endurance Partners, while Westwood’s management team and employee shareholders will retain a minority interest.
Darius Sepassi, Senior Managing Director, and Mitchell Nimocks, Managing Director, at Blackstone Energy Transition Partners said, “Westwood provides crucial expertise and resources to support the increasing adoption of renewables and investment in power systems throughout the US and is well positioned to continue building upon its impressive growth. We look forward to combining the power of Blackstone’s global scale and resources with Westwood’s talent to expand and enhance its valued partnerships with new and existing clients across the renewables, power, land development and public infrastructure value chains.”
David Foley, Global Head of Blackstone Energy Transition Partners, added, “Our partnership with the exceptional Westwood management team builds upon our recent energy transition investments including Trystar and Sediver, providing critical services and equipment needed to facilitate the transition to more reliable, affordable and cleaner energy. With the signing of this investment, Blackstone Energy Transition Partners will have committed approximately $1.3 billion in control-oriented equity investments in the energy transition since June.”
Bryan Powell, CEO of Westwood said, “We are excited about this new partnership with Blackstone as it positions the Company to continue expanding its capabilities in Westwood’s key end markets of renewable energy, power, land development, and public infrastructure, which are each poised to benefit from long-term growth tailwinds.”
Gerald Parsky, Chairman of Endurance, and Larry Bossidy, Chairman of Westwood, said that Westwood is an established leader in multi-disciplined professional services for the AEC industry. “We are pleased to have invested in and partnered with this management team, who have built a business poised to flourish in their new partnership.”
The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Blackstone was represented by Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC as financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis as legal advisor. Westwood was exclusively advised by Perella Weinberg Partners LP, with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP serving as counsel to both Westwood and Endurance Partners.