Houlihan Lokey Advises Donjon Marine

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that Donjon Marine Co., LLC (Donjon Marine), a critical marine infrastructure platform based in New Jersey with operations across the United States, has been acquired by Tallvine Partners (Tallvine). This transaction closed on September 19, 2025.

Donjon Marine is a leader in critical marine infrastructure with a comprehensive suite of essential solutions for the operation and maintenance of North America’s waterways, coastal regions, and harbor infrastructure. John A. Witte, Jr., a seasoned executive with more than four decades of experience in the maritime sector, will continue to lead the business as its CEO (alongside Thomas and Paul Witte) as part of the platform’s executive team. In addition, Thoroughbred LLC—led by co-founders and Managing Partners Charles Wesley and Aaron Bowlds—will serve as an industrial partner in the platform. Together, the group brings extensive operational expertise and deep industry relationships to drive the platform’s growth.

Founded in 1964 and headquartered in Hillside, New Jersey, Donjon Marine is a premier marine infrastructure platform, renowned for its expertise in dredging solutions, salvage operations and emergency response, heavy lift and towing capabilities, and environmental remediation. With a fleet of more than 70 specialized vessels, over 1,000 linear feet of berth space, and an estimated daily spoils processing capacity of 4,500 cubic yards in the New York and New Jersey harbors, Donjon Marine and its skilled team of more than 270 employees have been essential in maintaining navigable waterways and accessible harbor infrastructure, responding to maritime emergencies, and delivering complex infrastructure projects across the United States and abroad. Donjon Marine also operates a shipyard in the Great Lakes, equipped with a dry dock that is 1,250 feet by 120 feet by 22 feet (depth over sill), and has more than 200,000 square feet of production area on 44 acres of land. The company will continue to operate under the Donjon Marine brand.

Tallvine is an independent investment advisor focused on investing in value-add, middle-market infrastructure opportunities. Based in Miami and led by partners Thomas Lefebvre, Chucri Hjeily, Mark Clark, and Victor Sosa, Tallvine focuses on middle-market infrastructure opportunities across the energy and utilities, transportation and logistics, and communications sectors in North America. Tallvine seeks to invest in target sectors by leveraging its strong and cohesive partnership, experience building, enhancing, and divesting platforms, ability to identify and empower management teams, wide-reaching network of experts, and the pattern recognition its four partners have developed investing through two decades of business cycles in each of the firm’s target sectors.

Houlihan Lokey served as the exclusive sellside advisor to Donjon Marine. This transaction highlights Houlihan Lokey’s preeminent position and continued success advising clients in the environmental infrastructure services sector.

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