Aurora Capital Partners Completes Sale of VLS Environmental Solutions, a leading sustainability solutions and ESG-focused waste services company in North America, to I Squared Capital

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Aurora Capital Partners ("Aurora"), a leading middle-market private equity firm, announced today the closing of its previously announced sale of VLS Environmental Solutions ("VLS" or the "Company") to I Squared Capital ("I Squared"), a leading global infrastructure investment manager. VLS provides mission-critical, customized waste and specialty cleaning and repair services to a variety of highly regulated industries in North America. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

VLS operates two principal segments: non-hazardous industrial waste handling, treatment, and sustainable disposal, as well as rail and marine specialty cleaning and repair. As one of the only nationwide providers of ESG-friendly industrial waste solutions, the Company's sustainable disposal solutions are especially attractive for customers with zero-waste-to-landfill initiatives. The Company offers a comprehensive set of waste management solutions that process industrial non-hazardous waste to create alternative engineered fuels for industrial processes, fuel for waste-to-energy generation, treated wastewater, and landfill solidification.

"It has been exciting to work alongside the VLS team and help transform the Company from a Southeast-focused provider to a leading ESG-focused environmental solutions platform with nationwide scale and a broad-based environmental services offering," said Matthew Laycock, Partner at Aurora. "VLS has grown tremendously since our partnership in 2017, including the completion of nine acquisitions to support our buy and build strategy, and there is significant runway to continue this strong performance across its business lines. We wish the Company, its management and its new partners continued success."

"The entire VLS organization, led by John Magee, has done an excellent job leading the business through this phase of growth, and we appreciate their efforts throughout our partnership. They locked arms with us on Aurora's Strategy & Operations Program and expanded across all areas of their platform: geographic reach, customer service offerings, and internal talent," said Andrew Wilson, Partner at Aurora. "Given its unique service offering and strong customer value proposition, VLS is well-positioned to continue its growth within the broader environmental services industry."

"Aurora has been an incredible partner to the leadership team at VLS, providing guidance and expertise to support the Company in achieving our growth objectives," said John Magee, President and CEO of VLS. "We are thrilled to partner with the I Squared team and believe they are the right next owner to help drive the continued expansion of our market-leading environmental services platform."

Houlihan Lokey served as lead financial advisor, Robert W. Baird served as co-financial advisor, and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP served as legal advisor to Aurora Capital Partners. Jefferies LLC served as exclusive financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal advisor to I Squared Capital.

Aurora Capital Partners is a leading Los Angeles-based private equity firm with over $4.5 billion in assets under management. Founded in 1991, the firm focuses principally on control investments in middle-market companies with leading market positions, stable industry dynamics, attractive business model characteristics and actionable opportunities for growth in partnership with management. Aurora provides unique resources to its portfolio companies through its Strategy & Operations Program and its team of experienced operating advisors. Aurora's investors include leading public and corporate pension funds, endowments and foundations active in private equity investing. For more information about Aurora Capital Partners, visit: www.auroracap.com.  

VLS' Waste division provides customized waste processing solutions for non-hazardous industrial and commercial waste, including landfill diversion and sustainability programs, solidification of liquid waste, recycling, and wastewater treatment. The Company's Railcar Cleaning division provides specialty cleaning services for difficult-to-clean products including chemicals, hardened materials and pressurized gases using the most environmentally friendly and safe processes in the industry. Also, the Company's Marine division has state-of-the-art barge cleaning and repair facilities for a wide variety of petroleum and chemical solvents. Today, VLS has over 800 employees in 28 locations across the country. For more information about VLS, visit: www.vlses.com.

Contacts:

Aurora Capital Partners
ASC Advisors
Steve Bruce / Taylor Ingraham
+1 (203) 992-1230
[email protected] / [email protected]

SOURCE Aurora Capital Partners