Latest HII acquisition could bring work to Avondale

Mike Petters: "We view this acquisition as an opportunity to create further value for our stakeholders"

MAY 16, 2015 — In a move that could help its efforts to find a new role for its Avondale subsidiary, Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Houston headquartered UniversalPegasus International Holdings (UPI), a leading provider of engineering and project management services to the energy market.

Though Avondale isn’t even mentioned in HII’s announcement of the deal, UPI provides things like FEED (front end engineering and design) services for projects that incorporate a whole bunch of the sort of jobs that HII has been targeting for Avondale.

Privately held UPI has approximately 1,500 employees has been in business for over 50 years. It provides project management, engineering, design, survey, inspection and construction management to customers in the domestic and international marketplaces.

“We are very excited about bringing UPI into the Huntington Ingalls family,” said Mike Petters, HII’s president and CEO. “The management team at UPI has tremendous experience in the energy infrastructure market as well as strong relationships with customers. We view this acquisition as an opportunity to create further value for our stakeholders while entering the growing oil and gas market with a reputable and established company.”

UPI President and CEO Philip Luna added, “We look forward to becoming part of the HII team and the growth opportunities this will provide our customers and employees.”

After the acquisition closes, UPI will report to Chris Kastner, HII’s corporate vice president and general manager, corporate development. When Mr. Kastner was promoted to what was then a new position, back in April 2012, his initial role was “to lead the efforts to explore redeployment opportunities for Avondale outside HII’s core military shipbuilding business.”