Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (B&W), a global leader in energy and environmental technologies, announced this Wednesday it will expand its business into solar energy. It has acquired solar installation firm Fosler Construction.
B&W entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the majority ownership of Fosler. After the acquisition, B&W’s renewable energy segment will indeed become more robust. According to the companies’ statement, the transaction will close by the end of September 2021.
Despite the acquisition by B&W, Fosler Construction will continue to be led by its current Chief Executive Officer, Paul Fosler. He will retain minority ownership in the company. On the other hand, Fosler Construction is a company specialized in commercial, industrial, and utility-scale solar services.
Moreover, it owns two community solar projects in Illinois, which are under development under the Illinois Solar for All program. Mr. Fosler founded the company back in 1998, employing approximately 120 people. Despite being somewhat of a young company, it has had substantial growth, and already has a track record of successfully completing solar projects profitably with union labor.
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Babcock & Wilcox aggressively growing its renewable energy business
In fact, the company is in a position to capitalize on the high-growth solar market in the U.S., with a near-term pipeline of more than 1 gigawatt of solar capacity. Consequently, for B&W, the acquisition is a part of a growth and expansion strategy. Kenneth Young, B&W Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer, said. “This transaction aligns with B&W’s aggressive growth and expansion of our clean and renewable energy businesses.”
He also remarked. “Fosler Construction is an established leader in the commercial and utility solar business, and we’re excited about the many opportunities we see to work together to capitalize on a North American solar market that is expected to have a high rate of growth over the next five years.”
Finally, Fosler Construction CEO Paul Fosler also said. “We’re proud of the work we’ve done and the great team of employees at Fosler who will continue to be a critical part of our success going forward. We believe this transaction will help propel our growth to take advantage of the significant solar installation pipeline we have on the near-term horizon, and we’re excited to join with B&W, which has more than 150 years of experience in energy and environmental technologies and a strong, highly experienced leadership team.”