Situation
ProMark Utility Locators, Inc., and North American Locating, Inc., both headquartered in Chatham, Virginia, are outsourced providers of underground utility line locating and marking services for telephone, power, gas, cable and sewer utilities along with subsurface utility engineering services, respectively.

Objective
The founder and CEO sought to monetize his investment and to retire from his day-to-day operating role.

Solution
Matrix conducted a broad auction process focused on the financial buyer community due to seller’s desire to keep the business intact for the existing employees.

To solve the management transition, Matrix introduced the finalists in the auction process to a new prospective executive management team that was seeking to consolidate the industry.

Approximately 60 days after the closing of the ProMark transaction, the buyer closed on a second acquisition of another locating company, not represented by an investment bank, that had almost identical revenues and EBITDA. The ProMark valuation was 45% higher than the second transaction.