Vigor Industrial LLC, an infrastructure, defense and maritime services firm based in Portland, Ore., is included in a definitive agreement of acquisition announced in late July by an American multinational private equity firm.
The announcement on July 25 from The Carlyle Group, the multinational firm based in Washington D.C. said Carlyle and the private equity firm Stellex Capital Management would acquire and merge Vigor Industrial LLC and MHI Holdings LLC, a ship repair, maintenance and other ship husbandry services firm based in Norfolk, Va.
The combined company, Carlyle officials said, would create a bicoastal leader in critical ship repair services and commercial and defense-related fabrication services. Key customers include the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, Military Sealift Command, Boeing, cruise lines, fishing fleets, barges and ferry services for local and state governments, and other key commercial and defense customers.
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close by the end of the third quarter of 2019. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Vigor Industrial, a provider of complex fabrication and ship repair services, employs 2,300 people and operates eight drydocks across the Pacific Northwest and in Ketchikan, Alaska. Its 20-acre Ketchikan facilities include a 70,000 square foot assembly hall, plus an adjacent indoor fabrication shop for new builds, repair and refit to support most vessels working in Alaska waters. Frank Foti, president and chief executive officer of Vigor, said the merger “takes us where we want to go, growing sustainable jobs into the future.”
The Alaska Public Radio Network reported in late June that the state was considering short-term financing to incentivize work at the Ketchikan shipyard through a $10 million loan fund for private sector vessel owners doing work in Alaska.
According to a lengthy member written by Tom Boutin, chief executive officer of the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, the proposed financing program was targeted to meet the seasonal financing needs of Alaska’s industrial and commercial fleet owners and to facilitate scheduled maintenance cycle work at Alaska’s shipyards, Jacob Resneck of CoastAlaska in Juneau reported. Vigor Alaska would have been the primary beneficiary.
