Borgman Capital acquires Skinner & Cook, Virginia Tower Construction

Independent Sponsor Borgman Capital acquired cell-phone-tower construction companies Skinner & Cook Inc and Virginia Tower Construction, Founder and Managing Director Sequoya Borgman told Active LPs.

Borgman Capital invests in industrial companies in lower-middle market, founder-led businesses in the Midwest, but expanded to the East Coast and into a new sector to capitalize on 5G’s national expansion. “We started looking at the sector about a year ago when the 5G infrastructure was getting momentum,” Borgman said. “It is estimated that capital investment in cell-tower infrastructure between $250 billion and $500 billion over the next seven years will be driven by 5G network upgrades.”

Skinner & Cook, based in New Jersey, and Virginia Tower Construction focus on cell-tower construction, technology installation and the service and maintenance space, according to a press release.

Borgman Capital combined the companies to form AscendTek LLC. The Milwaukee-based independent sponsor is in discussions to acquire five other cell-tower construction companies. “Our strategy is to buy quite a few of these smaller regional players and roll them up into a larger regional company with more resources, [which would be] able to take on larger projects,” Borgman said.

Borgman Capital invests in businesses with Ebitda ranging from $2 million to $10 million with revenues of $5 million to $75 million, Active LPs previously reported. The company did not disclose how much the Skinner & Cook and Virginia Tower Construction deals closed for.

Family offices and high-net-worth individuals provided Borgman Capital with equity for the deal. The company also worked with AILCO, which provided financing, according to a press release.

Following the latest acquisitions, Borgman Capital has six companies under its portfolio: industrial equipment companies Derco Manufacturing and Lift Products; warehouse and storage equipment distributor Solution Dynamics; and Gilman Cheese Corporation, which processes and packages cheese.