Chesterfield pipe repair firm Aegion going private in $963 million deal | Local Business

In this file photo, crew members from Aegion Corp, formerly known as Insituform, are installing a “field cured pipe” in a storm sewer in Florissant. Photo by Emily Rasinski [email protected]

Emily M Rasinski

CHESTERFIELD – The water and energy pipeline infrastructure company Aegion Corp. announced Tuesday that New York-based mutual fund New Mountain Capital LLC has bought the company for $ 963 million.

New Mountain will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Aegion, based in Chesterfield, for $ 26 per share. This equates to a premium of 21% over Aegion’s closing price on Friday of $ 21.45. The transaction, which was unanimously approved by Aegion’s board of directors and is subject to approval by the company’s shareholders, will be funded through a combination of equity and debt and is expected to close in the second quarter.

“This transaction provides a premium valuation to shareholders, recognizes the value our team has created and represents a new chapter for our company,” said Charles Gordon, President and CEO of Aegion, in a statement. “As a private company, we will have the resources and the long-term approach to build on our advances and further improve our differentiated technology portfolio.”

Gordon, who announced in July that he would be retiring within a year, plans to stay with Aegion with $ 30 billion in assets under management until the completion of the sale to New Mountain. Aegion said it doesn’t expect headquarters to move out of the St. Louis area after the sale.

Aegion, the result of the former Insituform Technologies, built its business on in-situ cured pipe technology, a process of inserting an expandable material into old pipe so repairs can be made without digging. It has expanded from wastewater and water infrastructure to industrial and energy markets and is now active worldwide. The head office has been in Chesterfield since 1997.