TULSA, OK. — AAON, Inc. ("AAON") announced Nov. 18 it has entered into a membership interest purchase agreement to acquire 100% of the equity interests of BasX, LLC, dba BasX Solutions (“BasX”).
The transaction terms require an upfront payment of $100 million, subject to customary adjustments. Additional payments valued at up to $80 million are subject to earn-out milestones that extend through 2023. As a condition to closing, AAON will also sign a real estate purchase agreement with BasX Properties, LLC, an affiliate of BasX, to acquire the real property and improvements utilized by BasX for an additional $22 million, subject to customary closing conditions and adjustments. AAON plans to fund the transactions through a combination of cash, borrowings under its revolving credit facility and equity.
“Upon closing this acquisition, we will continue to advance our long-term strategy of focusing on innovative, semi-custom and custom, energy efficient HVAC solutions for nonresidential applications,” commented Gary Fields, AAON’s president and chief executive officer. “BasX will provide AAON with an immediate presence in the high-growth data center and cleanroom markets, both of which AAON has historically had minimal exposure. The growth and profitability fundamentals of these new markets are very compelling for AAON. We also believe there are material revenue and cost synergies that will result from the combined entity. Moreover, BasX is led by a management team that has decades of experience in developing products that have shaped today’s industry, an attribute that is fully complementary to AAON’s strategy. Overall, we believe the strategic and financial benefits resulting from this acquisition are compelling for our Company and all of our stakeholders. We look forward to welcoming the BasX team to the AAON family and are excited about the opportunities ahead.”
Matt Tobolski, PhD, president and co-founder of BasX stated, “Since our inception, the BasX team has focused on delivering value added solutions by engineering and building industry leading custom products that meet the most stringent demands in the data center, cleanroom and commercial markets. The creativity, collaboration, and execution of projects by our team will be strengthened as we enter this new chapter with AAON. BasX and AAON are extremely well aligned from company cultures, engineering expertise, manufacturing efficiency and the steadfast commitment to delivering on promises to our customers.” Dave Benson, BasX CEO and co-founder added, “As BasX joins the AAON family, we are confident that the incremental add in product offerings and market segments will result in fantastic value to our collective customers and shareholders.”
Financing and Closing
The upfront payment of $100 million will be funded mostly with cash on hand, with the rest from borrowings under the Company’s revolving credit facility. Earn-out payments based on certain milestones will be paid in equity. The acquisition is expected to close by year-end, subject to customary closing conditions and approvals, and the real estate acquisition is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2022.
Financial Advisors
J.P. Morgan Securities, LLC acted as exclusive advisor to AAON.
Wells Fargo Securities, LLC acted as exclusive advisor to BasX.
