BALTIMORE, MD – Jensen Hughes (the “Company”), the global market leader in the fire protection engineering, fire code consulting and related life safety services industry, announced that it has completed the acquisition of Aon Fire Protection Engineering Corporation (“Aon FPE”). Formerly known as Schirmer Engineering, Aon FPE is one of the leading global providers of fire protection engineering, fire code consulting and security services to commercial, industrial and government facilities through 15 office locations in North America and a significant presence in the Middle East. Jensen Hughes is majority-owned by Gryphon Investors, a middle market private equity firm based in San Francisco, which purchased the Company in partnership with management in December 2015. Terms of this transaction were not disclosed.
The combination of Jensen Hughes and Aon FPE brings together the two leading brands in the industry and increases the technical expertise and resources available to provide fire protection and forensic engineering, risk analysis and fire modeling, system design, code consulting, commissioning, research and testing and project management solutions that encompass fire protection, life safety, security and related disciplines to clients of both companies on a global basis. After the acquisition, Jensen Hughes will provide services to a majority of the Fortune 500 companies and other blue chip clients through more than 60 offices in North America, Asia and the Middle East and will employ nearly 1,000 professionals.
Jensen Hughes CEO Phil Rogers stated “We are very excited to have completed the highly strategic acquisition of Aon FPE which is one of the leading firms in our core market and shares with Jensen Hughes a commitment to technical excellence and the capability of addressing its clients’ most complex engineering needs. This acquisition adds a talented group of managers and engineers to the Jensen Hughes team and strengthens our ability to provide lifecycle consultancy services to clients all over the world.”
“The strategic vision and investment commitment of Gryphon coupled with the combined breadth of technical offerings, global office locations and commitment to expansion and growth of Aon FPE provides significant opportunities for both our clients and colleagues,” added Neil Harrison of Aon Risk Solutions (“Aon”), the worldwide provider of risk management and insurance brokering and former parent company of Aon FPE.
XMS Capital Partners, LLC acted as financial advisors to Aon Fire Protection Engineering Corporation. Sidley Austin LLP acted as legal advisor to Aon, while Kirkland & Ellis LLP provided legal advice to Jensen Hughes.