Saturday, August 05, 2006
Electrical company gets taken over
Richardson-Wayland Electrical Co. may form the cornerstone of a growth strategy to expand construction to the Northeast.
The latest from The Ticker blog
A major Roanoke electrical company has been acquired by a Washington, D.C.-based corporation that plans to expand its construction ventures into northern states.
Richardson-Wayland Electrical Co., a heavy-utility construction company that has operated in Roanoke since 1913, will become part of Argos Utilities Corp.
Argos is a newly formed company that says it has a growth strategy in an industry that's building new generating plants and power lines, especially to supply the Northeast.
Argos is funded by New York equity company Cadent Energy Partners I, which provided $30 million for the Argos startup.
Apparently planning to use Richardson-Wayland as its cornerstone, Argos said in an announcement Friday that the Roanoke company's management team and organization "will remain intact and form the foundation for Argos Utilities Corp.'s growth strategy."
That strategy includes using Richardson-Wayland's union relationships to reach markets in the labor-friendly environments of Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia, said John Teeter, senior vice president and general manager of Richardson-Wayland. He's not leaving the company, Teeter said.
"We are a union contractor, and we will explore areas north of here that are more favorable to union contractors," Teeter said. Richardson-Wayland once built large transmission lines in the 500-kilovolt range, and hopes to get back into that sector, Teeter said.
Richardson-Wayland has about 145 employees among its field construction crews, mostly outside Roanoke, and about 25 at its office on 13th Street Southwest at Memorial Avenue, said Gordon Crawford, the company's vice president for finance.
The company may add jobs among its field construction crews, as well as a few jobs in its Roanoke office, Teeter said.
Much of Richardson-Wayland's current work involves installing traffic signals and electronic message signs for the Virginia Department of Transportation across much of the state, Teeter said. Dominion Power is another significant customer.
Richardson-Wayland also does electrical construction involving transmission and distribution lines in Tennessee, North Carolina, West Virginia and Maryland.
Argos Utilities Corp. was formed "to execute an acquisition and growth strategy within the electric transmission and distribution services market," the company said.
Part of the $30 million invested by equity partner Cadent will be used "to fund the organic growth initiatives at Richardson-Wayland and future acquisitions," Argos' announcement said.
William Quinn will serve as president of Argos and of Richardson-Wayland. Brian Quinlan will be vice president and chief financial officer of both companies.
Both Quinn and Quinlan came to Argos from the Shaw Group Inc., a transmission and services company that formerly was part of Duke Energy.
Three other Roanoke-area companies also do heavy-utility construction. They are New River Electrical Corp., Davis H. Elliott Co. Inc., and Contracting Enterprises Inc.
