Great Lakes Dredge acquires Terra Contracting assets

JANUARY 2, 2013 — Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (NASDAQ:GLDD) reports that it has acquired the assets of Terra Contracting, LLC for approximately $20 million.  Great Lakes says thatTerra’s remediation, maintenance/repair, abatement and emergency response services provide corporate and governmental customers with one of the industry’s broadest arrays of project-critical environmental solutions. Seller proceeds will be used to pay down debt and provide a return of equity to ownership.

Headquartered in Kalamazoo, Mich., Terra employs approximately 200 engineering, operations and administrative staff and serves customers in more than thirty states in the environmental, infrastructure, energy, industrial, transportation, waste water and construction sectors. Terra’s services include the removal and remediation of contaminated sediment, soil and groundwater, superfund site clean-ups, hazardous waste removal and brownfield site restoration, facility and equipment decontamination and decommissioning, tank cleaning, hazardous materials abatement, emergency response services, and municipal utility, sewer and wastewater infrastructure maintenance, inspection and refurbishment.

Great Lakes CEO Jon Berger stated, “The Terra acquisition fits our strategic vision to gain a stronger foothold in the environmental remediation market. Terra will broaden our demolition segment with additional services and expertise as well as expand our footprint in the Midwest. Terra reinforces our efforts to develop relationships with larger industrial and governmental clients. Additionally, our rivers and lakes operations can leverage Terra’s environmental remediation focus to accelerate its participation in the environmental dredging market.”

President and COO Bruce Biemeck stated, “With Terra comes a seasoned, highly knowledgeable and experienced management team, including owner Steve Taplin, all of whom are excited to team with Great Lakes to grow the environmental remediation business. We look forward to working with the Terra team to leverage our combined technical expertise and expanded asset base to broaden the Great Lakes footprint and market reach in this strategic market sector, while providing Terra with the resources and financial capability to grow into new services and geographic regions. Steve Taplin has been named President of the new company, Terra Contracting Services LLC and believes this transaction will be very positive for the company he founded in 2001.”

Mr. Taplin commented, “I am very proud of the success we have enjoyed in our business and attribute much of our success to the team which I have worked with over the years to build a highly respected company. Our dedicated team enjoys the challenges of the business, but we lack the resources to continue our growth. In the best interest of our team and their desire to grow, I have made this decision to ensure continuing opportunities for our team and the ability to continue to work together to further expand our business. The transaction has been a very good experience, as it enabled me to meet and get to know the Great Lakes team, which is a professional and highly motivated group, much like Terra. We look forward to the opportunities ahead and are ready to dig in and grow with Great Lakes.”

Terra is expected to generate approximately $45 million of service revenue with 15% EBITDA margins in 2013, while also generating approximately $20 million of pass through transportation and disposal revenue. Terra will add approximately $20 million to Great Lakes’ year-end 2012 backlog excluding project option opportunities.