Franklin Energy Group to be sold
Franklin Energy Group, a company based in Port Washington that helps utilities and their customers use energy efficiently, will be sold by one private equity firm to another.
The company said Thursday that Abry Partners, based in Boston, would buy majority ownership of the company from Kohlberg & Company LLC, based in Mount Kisco, New York, and its other stockholders.
Franklin Energy was formed through the merger of Franklin Energy Services, based in Port Washington and founded in the mid-1990s, and AM Conservation Group, based in Charleston, South Carolina, and the subsequent acquisition of PlanetEcosystems, based in San Francisco.
The company sells software, products and other services that help utilities and their customers managed the demand for energy and water.
Paul Schueller, CEO of Franklin Energy, was on vacation and could not be reached. Kevin McDonough, the company’s president, was traveling and also could not be reached.
Franklin Energy, which employed about 70 people in 2009, now employs about 1,300 people.
“We have tremendous respect for what Franklin Energy has achieved under Kohlberg’s ownership and very much look forward to supporting this great organization’s strategic vision,” JD Martin of Abry Partners said in a statement.
Abry Partners, which manages more than $5 billion invested in its active private-equity funds, will be the third private equity firm to own a majority stake in the company in the past decade.
Franklin Energy was owned by Cortec Group, a private equity firm based in New York, before being bought by Kolhberg & Co.