Houlihan Lokey Advises PFES
Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that PFES, a subsidiary of The Planet Group (Planet), a portfolio company of Odyssey Investment Partners Fund VI, LP (Odyssey), has been acquired by Qualus Corp. (Qualus), a portfolio company of New Mountain Capital (New Mountain). The transaction closed on December 2, 2024.
One of the top 50 program management firms in the U.S., PFES is a specialized and differentiated provider of program management and strategic advisory services to the power and utility industries. The company was launched by Planet in 2012 to offer comprehensive advisory and consulting services as well as functional outsourcing solutions in the areas of power delivery, power generation, natural gas, and renewable energy.
Planet, a portfolio company of Odyssey, consists of a group of related global consulting organizations and renowned staffing brands and has been purposefully built to address the professional services needs of leading companies in the areas of technology and digital transformation, engineering, marketing, and professional services. Named one of America’s fastest-growing private companies, the company was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, with offices throughout the U.S., Europe, India, and LATAM.
Odyssey is a leading private equity investment firm with more than a 25-year history of partnering with skilled managers to transform middle-market companies into more efficient and diversified businesses with strong growth profiles. Odyssey makes majority-controlled investments in industries with a long-term positive outlook and favorable secular trends.
Qualus is a leading pure-play power services firm and innovator at the forefront of the energy transition, with differentiated capabilities across grid modernization, resiliency, security, and sustainability. The firm partners with utilities, commercial, industrial, and government clients, as well as renewable and energy storage developers, offering comprehensive solutions through boutique and integrated advisory, planning, engineering, digital solutions, program management, and specialized field services. Qualus also provides software and technology-enabled services and develops breakthrough solutions for critical power industry challenges such as distributed and variable resource integration, emergency management, and secure data exchange. The firm has nearly 1,200 professionals, with offices throughout the U.S. and Canada.
New Mountain is a New York-based investment firm that emphasizes business building and growth rather than excessive risk as it pursues long-term capital appreciation. The firm currently manages private equity, strategic equity, credit, and net lease real estate funds with nearly $55 billion in assets under management. New Mountain seeks out what it believes to be the highest quality growth leaders in carefully selected industry sectors and then works intensively with management to build the value of these companies.
Houlihan Lokey served as the lead financial advisor and assisted in marketing, structuring, and negotiating the transaction on behalf of PFES, Planet, and Odyssey. This deal exemplifies Houlihan Lokey’s dedicated focus on and continued success in the utility services sector.
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