First Capital Partners and Patriot Capital Group Announce Successful Exit of Advantage Engineers

First Capital Partners, a junior capital investment firm, and Patriot Capital, a multi-strategy middle market investment firm, are pleased to announce the sale of their portfolio company, Advantage Engineers, LLC, to Network Connex, a provider of mission critical network deployment solutions in fiber optics, data centers, and wireless and video networks.
 
Headquartered in Columbia, MD, Advantage Engineers is a nationwide engineering and design firm bringing innovative solutions to telecommunications infrastructure projects. Advantage Engineers offers specialized solutions, including site acquisition, planning and surveying, civil, structural and electrical engineering, zoning and permitting, construction management, and inspection and verification for both wireless and fiber deployments. Advantage Engineers will operate under the Network Connex umbrella, forming the backbone of its Engineering & Professional Service Line and complementing Network Connex’s existing Fiber, Data Center, and Wireless and Construction Service Lines.
 
First Capital Partners and Patriot Capital invested in Advantage Engineers in 2016 in a recapitalization transaction to support existing management/owners to develop and pursue its growth strategy culminating in the sale to Network Connex. During the investment period, Advantage Engineers completed the divesture of its geotechnical engineering division to a strategic acquirer and significantly expanded its geographic footprint by acquiring a West Coast telecommunications site acquisition and engineering firm as well as opening new offices.
 
“We are pleased with the outcome of this investment for our respective funds and believe that Advantage Engineers is well positioned to continue to grow its business as part of the Network Connex platform, particularly as the 5G telecommunications network infrastructure roll out continues to accelerate,” commented Young Park, managing director at First Capital Partners and former Board member of Advantage Engineers.
 
“Advantage Engineers experienced rapid growth and our hats are off to the management team who led us through the investment period whereby Advantage Engineers’ core telecommunications revenues grew by over 300% and EBITDA grew by over 600%, in the last 5 years,” said Charles McCusker, managing partner at Patriot Capital and former Board member of Advantage Engineers. 
 
“We are excited about the platform we are joining at Network Connex, and we want to thank our management team and our former capital partners at First Capital and Patriot Capital who provided strategic guidance for the last five years and helped to position Advantage Engineers for its next growth phase,” commented John McGrath, CEO of Advantage Engineers.