Utility One Source Announces Partnership with UCO Equipment
Kansas City, Missouri and Cabot, Arkansas, April 27, 2015 – Utility One Source today announced a partnership with UCO Equipment (“UCO”), a provider of specialty equipment and services to the utility, power and oil & gas sectors. Based in Cabot, Arkansas, UCO will continue to be a family-owned and operated business. UCO’s existing management team, led by Rhonda and Jim Usery, will continue to lead and to grow the business as part of Utility One Source. Utility One Source, founded by private equity funds managed by Blackstone earlier this year, is a single-source supplier for the utility and heavy equipment industries with a focus on sales, rental, parts and aftermarket services, remanufacturing, customized equipment and transportation nationwide.
“We are pleased to welcome UCO’s management team and its highly-skilled and dedicated employees to the Utility One Source family,” said Utility One Source Chairman Chris Ragot. “UCO is a great fit with our growth strategy and we are excited to expand our geographic footprint in both Arkansas and the greater Houston area as well as to increase our product offerings. We look forward to working with UCO in the years ahead, as we continue to grow to become the largest supplier in the utility and heavy equipment industries.”
UCO’s president and CEO, Rhonda Usery said, “UCO is very excited to join UOS. We look forward to using our unique track-based equipment experience to grow Utility One Source, and to better serve our customers nationwide.”
UCO represents the first acquisition by Utility One Source since its formation in February 2015 and demonstrates its commitment to a national infrastructure and breadth of product offerings. Funds managed by Blackstone will continue to provide growth capital for significant additional investment in equipment, innovation and an expanded geographic footprint, which will ensure Utility One Source has the customer-focused solutions the industry requires.
About UCO Equipment:
UCO Equipment provides “specialty equipment and services” to the utility, power, construction, water, oil & gas energy sectors. UCO specializes in the design and fabrication of pipeline and powerline solutions to improve the production and safety of our customers. Offering a variety of Crawler Carriers, from basic dump/flat beds to the finest quality Digger Derricks, Buckets, Environmental Solutions and ROPS Certified Personnel Carriers, UCO provides machines that are able to perform in various types of terrain and weather.
About Utility One Source:
Utility One Source is comprised of four family-owned and operated businesses: Custom Truck & Equipment, Utility Fleet Sales, Forestry Equipment of Virginia (FEVA) and UCO Equipment. The partnership, with a combined 14 locations nationwide will collectively offer sales, rentals, parts and aftermarket services, remanufacturing, customized equipment and transportation. Utility One Source will build upon the market positions of each company, while serving as a single source supplier for the utility and heavy equipment industries.
About Blackstone:
Blackstone Energy Partners is Blackstone’s energy-focused private equity business, with a successful record built on Blackstone’s industry expertise and partnerships with exceptional management teams. Blackstone has invested approximately $8 billion of equity globally across a broad range of sectors within the energy industry.
Blackstone is one of the world’s leading investment firms. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, and the communities in which we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems. Our asset management businesses, with over $300 billion in assets under management, include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, non-investment grade credit, real assets, and secondary funds, all on a global basis. Blackstone also provides various financial advisory services, including financial and strategic advisory, restructuring and reorganization advisory, and fund placement services.
Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow us on Twitter @Blackstone.
For further information:
Liza Rauch
Blackstone
(212) 583-5263
[email protected]