Amherst Partners, LLC (“Amherst”) announced the sale of Sycamore Gas, Inc. (“Sycamore Gas” or the “Company”) to Hearthstone Utilities, Inc. (“Hearthstone”), a portfolio company of BlackRock’s Global Energy & Power Infrastructure Group (“BGEPI”). Amherst acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Sycamore Gas in connection with the transaction.
Amherst Partners was engaged by the Company’s owner to execute a sale process that would transition control of the business to a strategic partner best able to serve the long-term interests of both the current and future customers of Sycamore Gas. Amherst worked with the Company’s leadership to identify and articulate Sycamore’s operational strength and growth potential to a highly targeted list of potential buyers. Ultimately, Hearthstone and BlackRock’s experience in the natural gas energy sector proved to be the best match to aid Sycamore in realizing its growth potential while at the same time expanding Hearthstone’s reach into a key Midwest market.
About Sycamore Gas
Sycamore Gas is a natural gas local distribution company based in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Founded in 1868, the Company operates approximately 180 miles of pipeline and provides natural gas services directly to over 7,000 residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation customers throughout southeastern Indiana.
About Hearthstone and BlackRock
Hearthstone (formerly known as Gas Natural, Inc.) was acquired by BGEPI in 2017 and operates as a natural gas local distribution company serving approximately 70,000 customers across Ohio, Maine, Montana, and North Carolina. BlackRock’s Global Energy & Power Infrastructure Group manages a global portfolio of infrastructure assets, with a focus on contracted power, contracted midstream, regulated transmission and distribution, and other contracted energy assets. This group is a subsidiary of BlackRock, Inc., one of the world’s largest providers of asset management, risk management, and advisory services to institutional, intermediary, and individual clients.
The former shareholders will continue to be closely associated with the group and remain minority shareholders and support the management team in the role of an advisory board as well as consultants.
GJM (JMT:LS) is one of Portugal’s largest multinational groups (c. EUR 8.9 billion market cap) that operates in food distribution and specialized retail.
IMAP closed 193 M&A transactions valued at over $7.0 billion in 2020, down from the 7 year high of 235 deals closed in 2019.
