Investment bank B. Riley FBR served as the exclusive financial advisor to Advanced Workplace Strategies (AWSI) in its all cash sale to DISA Global Solutions.
Terms of the transaction, which closed November 1, 2018, were not disclosed.
Headquartered in Tustin, CA, AWSI is a third-party administrator and provider of workforce screening solutions, which delivers outsourced coordination and management of drug and alcohol testing, background checks, scheduling of medical services, and other employee verification services to a variety of industries. Its core focus is on serving the oil and gas sector and other safety-sensitive industries.
B. Riley FBR assisted in structuring and negotiating the sale on behalf of AWSI and its shareholders. The transaction team was led by investment bankers Greg Presson, Grant Hustedt, and Grayson Largman.
“Our selection of B. Riley FBR to represent AWSI was based on their impressive reputation and transactional experience within the compliance and public safety markets. After being introduced by another local senior executive who had several successful M&A experiences with B. Riley FBR serving as financial advisor, B. Riley FBR distinguished themselves as the clear choice to advise our company,” said AWSI founder, Joe Gonzalez. “The firm’s history of advising privately-held, family-owned businesses and proven track record for maximizing shareholder value further established B. Riley FBR as the right partner to represent AWSI.”
“B. Riley FBR’s active M&A involvement within the B2B services and workforce compliance sectors allows us to continually gain valuable insight into which private equity groups and strategic buyers are pursuing acquisitions of top performing companies in the industry,” said Presson. “After performing substantial buyer due diligence and market research, it became clear to us that a combination of these two organizations would result in the most meaningful future growth opportunities and market share gains.”
