Pearce Services acquires MaxGen and WWS, announces key investment partnership to expand asset procurement strategy

The West Coast company makes moves to further argue its case as an industry leader in technology and infrastructure maintenance and repair services.

In a double move last week, California-based Pearce Services announced a partnership with New York-based New Mountain Capital, an investment firm with a $20 billion portfolio of assets. The telecommunications infrastructure services company also announced an acquisition simultaneously of MaxGen Energy Services and World Wind & Solar (WWS). The two companies provide “turnkey facility operations, maintenance, a NERC/CIP certified operations center, and specialty staff augmentation services for solar, wind, battery, and electric vehicle (EV) charging station owners, operators, and OEMs” (New Mountain Capital).  

Pearce will channel their technology-powered business core into providing maintenance solutions to utility-scale renewable energy assets including wind and solar projects around the globe. The company will also provide repairs to electric vehicle battery charging stations.  

The undisclosed terms of the acquisitions will enable a workforce for the newly formed Pearce Services of over 1,000 workers and engineers nationwide to provide a presence for the company, which is headquartered in Paso Robles.  

New Mountain Capital is focused on growth-driven companies with a business strategy centered around investments with equity and long-term capital appreciation. Building value from within is a focus for the investment firm.  

“We have been proactively investing in the infrastructure services sector for a number of years and identified Pearce, MaxGen, and WWS as industry-leading businesses with best-in-class capabilities and strong growth opportunities,” said Joe Walker, Director at New Mountain Capital. “We believe the combination positions Pearce to pursue major long-term growth opportunities including deployment of 5G, battery infrastructure, decarbonization, modernization of the electric power grid, and electrification of transportation. We plan to help Pearce grow rapidly both organically and through acquisition.” 

For the solar industry “boots on the ground”, this reads like an M&A move to position Pearce as the primary developer and services head for a slew of assets in the renewables field, especially wind and solar, as previously indicated. For investors, New Mountain Capital will most likely act as a further acquisition partner in order to obtain assets and identify projects/opportunities that make sense on the balance sheet and align with the firm’s vision of building internal growth over a long period of time.  

Advisory: Lincoln International LLC acted as financial advisor to Pearce. Guggenheim Securities, LLC acted as financial advisor to MaxGen and WWS.