Industrial HVAC contractor Comfort Systems to acquire Houston engineering firm
Comfort Systems USA Inc. of Houston said last week it would acquire TAS Energy Inc., an engineering, design and construction provider of modular construction systems serving the technology, power and industrial sectors. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
TAS, also Houstonbased, is expected to contribute annualized revenue of approximately $170 million to $190 million, and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $15 million to $17 million.
Comfort Systems is a provider of commercial, industrial and institutional heating, ventilation, air conditioning and electrical contracting services, with 140 locations in 118 cities around the nation.
Walgreens, Postmates launch local delivery
Walgreens and Postmates announced last week that their partnership offering ondemand delivery of items available at select Walgreens stores would roll out to Houston and a dozen other cities.
The service was initially available only in New York.
To service, which taps resources at more than 1,700 participating Walgreens stores across the country, charges no delivery fees for customers who subscribe to Postmates’ membership service, Postmates Unlimited, for $9.99 per month.
Identity Automation makes acquires Enboard
Houston-based Identity Automation, provider of the RapidIdentity identity and access management platform, announced its acquisition of Enboard, provider of automated user account management, single sign-on, smart account provisioning, rostering and secure encryption solutions for the education market.
Transaction details were not disclosed.
Enboard, based in South Carolina, has a significant presence in Texas, California and the Southeast. Carolina Financial Securities, LLC served as financial adviser to Enboard in the transaction.
Main Street Capital makes debt, equity deal
Main Street Capital Corp. has closed an investment in Cody Pools Inc., a designer and builder of customized swimming pools and spas for residential and commercial customers. Main Street, along with its co-investors, partnered with the company’s senior management team to facilitate the transaction, with Main Street funding $24.4 million in a combination of first-lien, senior secured term debt and a direct equity investment.
Main Street and one of its co-investors are also providing Cody with a credit facility to support its future growth initiatives and working capital needs.
Cody, founded in 1994, has built more than 12,000 pools and has expanded its Austinbased operations to include San Antonio, Houston and Tampa. Main Street is an investment firm that primarily provides longterm debt and equity capital to lower middlemarket companies and debt capital to middlemarket companies.
Informatics platform Validere closes Series A
Validere, an informatics platform that enables energy companies to realize efficiencies through real-time product quality insights, announced the closing of its US $15 million Series A funding round led by Wing VC, with participation from Greylock Partners and Sallyport Investments.
With offices in Houston, Calgary, and Toronto, Validere was founded by Dr. Ian Burgess and Nouman Ahmad to leverage what they saw as the opportunity to bring data transparency to oil and gas.
Validere’s software is now monitoring and optimizing over 3 million barrels per day for leading oil and gas companies in Canada and the U.S.
Strong returns on single-family rentals
Harris County ranks among the top large metro areas in the U.S. for returns on investing in single-family rental properties, according to real estate information services firm ATTOM Data Solutions.
The company found that among counties with a population of at least 1 million, the highest potential gross rental yields in 2020 are in Wayne County (Detroit), Mich. (14.5 percent); Cuyahoga County (Cleveland), Ohio (11.8 percent); Cook County, Ill. (9.3 percent); Dallas County (9.1 percent); and Harris County (8.7 percent).
The report also found that wages rose faster than rents in 2019 in more than half of the 389 counties analyzed, including in Harris and Bexar counties. Wages also rose faster than home prices in Harris County, the report found.
Houston IT services company finishes acquisition
BMC, a Houston company developing IT solutions for digital enterprises, has completed the acquisition of RSM Partners, a global provider of mainframe services and software with a focus on mainframe security. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
RSM Partners, with offices in Minneapolis, the U.K. and Australia, will now be known as BMC Mainframe Services by RSM Partners. The acquisition brings penetration testing capabilities to mainframe systems for vulnerability detection across both infrastructure and applications.