USIC LLC Announces the Acquisition of Premier Utility Services

Indianapolis, IN (April 1, 2015): Yesterday, USIC LLC announced the acquisition of Premier Utility Services (Hauppauge, NY) from Houston based Willbros Group, (NYSE: WG). According to USIC’s CEO Rob Tullman, the opportunity came up quickly. “Our size and strength, backed by the confidence and financial strength of our owners, Leonard Green & Partners, allowed us to act quickly and meet Willbros’ expectations. USIC welcomes the Premier team and looks forward to serving new customers in an expanded footprint.”

USIC and Premier combined have over 900 customers and perform more than 57 million locates across 39 states and Canada, annually. In addition to its core locating business, USIC is now able to provide to its customers additional field services such as gas leak detection, pipeline inspections, un-toneable resolution, vacuum excavation, storm services, electrical and gas inspections, tower services, and design locating.

USIC has industry leading damage prevention and information sharing technology coupled with strong execution capability. A 2014 acquisition and significant IT investments add intelligence to data, improving accuracy, reliability and speed for customers. “USIC technology changes the way we share information with our stakeholders. Our statistical models and asset specific risk assessments dramatically improve results. They are game changers and position USIC for expanded and adjacent services,” says Tullman.

Marc Makely, President of Premier, stated “it is amazing to find two companies who were completely separate to be aligned so well. We are looking forward to see what is possible as we combine our resources and experience. I feel strongly that the combined strengths of our organizations along with access to capital and a joint commitment toward growth will advance our service offerings across a national platform.”

About USIC, LLC   http://www.usicllc.com

USIC is the largest underground utility locating and damage prevention Company in North America. Its utility locate technicians protect the assets of utility and telecom companies both in the United States and Canada. USIC leads the industry in volume, accuracy, timeliness, and customer satisfaction. The Company is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana.

About Leonard Green & Partners, LP   http://www.leonardgreen.com/

Leonard Green is one of the nation's preeminent private equity firms with over $15 billion of private equity capital raised since inception. Founded in 1989, the firm has invested in 69 companies with aggregate value of $74 billion. Located in Los Angeles, California, Leonard Green invests in established companies that are leaders in their markets.