CASE STUDY

Borgman Brings Telecomm Companies TogetherOpportunity

Leadership at Borgman Capital was exploring the acquisiti on of companies

in the telecommunicati ons industry at the same ti me the owners at Virginia Tower Constructi on and Skinner & Cook, Inc., growing companies on the East Coast, were ready to partner with someone to conti nue to grow their businesses. And, while Borgman’s search was focused primarily in the Midwest, Borgman Capital Managing Directors David Bartelme and Sequoya Borgman decided to pursue the opportunity to engage both businesses.

Jeff Hoff man of Virginia Tower and Eileen Blum from Skinner & Cook were most concerned about how a sale would aff ect their employees and also with fi nding a buyer who would act as if the companies were their own, growing them with integrity and fi delity.

Both businesses have deep roots: Hoff man of Virginia Tower has more than 30 years of experience in the wireless industry, erecti ng towers for increasingly more reliable cellular service, and Skinner & Cook has almost 90 years of telecommunicati ons constructi on experience, including the placement of the fi rst television transmission antenna atop the Empire State Building in 1938.

Soluti on

Hoff man said he was in talks with several interested parti es, but once he met with

Bartelme and Rick Ploeckelmann, operati ng partner at Borgman, he not only liked them, he trusted them.

“I needed to have confi dence that the buyer we chose would hold up their end of the bargain with our employees,” Hoff man said. “I met with Dave and Rick and liked them immediately because they listened and have really good business knowledge.”

More, Hoff man said he did some networking and was reassured that Borgman Capital has a sterling reputati on.

Blum said she appreciated the ideas the Borgman team presented for growing the business and felt like they were all immediately working together.

“They were pati ent and understanding, and we worked as a team to pull the deal together,” she added.

Bartelme and Ploeckelmann knew that having the right legal counsel was criti cal to bringing the deal to a successful conclusion so they turned to the experienced team at Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c.

Both Hoff man and Blum said the lawyers at Reinhart were especially helpful, answering questi ons and guiding their own att orneys through a process with which they were unfamiliar. The legal team helped steer the deals to completi on with creati ve soluti ons to handle everything from seller notes to employment agreements to nuances in the purchase agreements, Bartelme explained.

SEQUOYA BORGMAN

DAVID BARTELME

RICK PLOECKELMANN

111 East Kilbourn Avenue | Suite 2500 | Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202 | info@borgmancapital.com | 414.975.4629

BenefitBy acquiring both Virginia Tower and Skinner & Cook, Borgman is establishing a presence in the cell tower construction, technology installation and service and maintenance market as AscendTek, LLC, with Ploeckelmann as president.

Combining the companies means long-term stability for the 33 employees who make up the workforce; 21 of whom came from Virginia Tower and 12 from Skinner & Cook. Not only are their jobs secure, but their benefit packages are as well, providing peace of mind during and after the transition.

Bartelme said it was important to communicate early and often with the employees and to have someone from Borgman at each facility in the early days.

“We work hard to provide certainty in the early part of the ownership transition. We ensure people know who we are, that their benefits packages are staying the same or getting better, and what our plans are for the business,” he said. “We understand that uncertainty is uncomfortable, so we are as transparent as possible with someone from Borgman on-site to answer questions and to put a face to to the new ownership.”

Eventually, the benefit packages will be combined so every employee under the AscendTek umbrella has access to the same options as part of the overall mindset of putting people first.

“We see ourselves as business stewards because our responsibility now is to grow these businesses, take care of the employees, and preserve the legacies of the previous owners,” Bartelme said. “Our approach to creating value and investor return, is focusing on the employees and conducting business with high ethical standards.”