Emory Sells Midwest Biz to Focus on SE, SW

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Emory Industrial Services Inc., a provider of cleaning, maintaining and repair service of heavy industrial equipment, has sold its Midwest Division to Minnesota-based Premium Plant Services Inc.

Though exact terms of the deal were not disclosed, the transaction was structured as an all-cash deal and officially closed November 30, 2022. The sale enables Emory to consolidate its resources in the Southwestern and Southeastern United States, as these two regions currently produce well over 80 percent of its annual revenue.

 “A laser-like focus must permeate every aspect of our business going forward, as our financial performance depends on it,” said Travis Correll, chief operating officer for Emory. “This deal offers us a more geographic focus and better enables us to deploy resources to serve customers. It also provides us with additional resources we can invest in our robotics services and dry ice manufacturing, as both of these business units are growing rapidly and the customer demand within each category is significant.”

In September, Emory officially moved its headquarters from Des Moines, Iowa, to Abilene, Texas in recognition of the substantial customer base the company has built in various southern states since its founding just over four years ago. The divestiture of its Midwest Division is just one of several moves the company is making to position itself for the future.

“It was a difficult decision to sell our Midwest Division. Our team has been doing a solid job growing the business, but our board determined the deal with Premium made sense,” said Harley Burnett, Emory’s new chairman and CEO. “We can now focus our full attention on several southern states where most of our revenue is generated, along with building out our robotics services business and our ever-growing dry ice manufacturing business.”

Burnett continued, “Our Midwest customers are in great hands with Mark Parenteau and the rest of his team at Premium, and our former Emory staff will do a great job at Premium. They know the market well and they will continue to provide exceptional customer service.”

As a business, Correll said Emory is always looking for opportunities to improve its product and service offerings for customers, increase sales, enhance operational performance, and build long-term shareholder value.

“Even though this transaction represents the sale of one business unit, it is important to note that we have also acquired three other companies this year alone,” offered Correll. “This clearly demonstrates we are bullish on the future of both the industrial services space and the dry ice manufacturing business – so, our merger and acquisition window is always open for the right opportunity.”

“We are very pleased to complete this transaction with Emory, and I appreciate their work with my team to get this deal across the finish line. It is always great to acquire a business with three-fold, year-over-year revenue growth, as growth of this nature gives me great confidence in the book of business we just acquired,” noted Mark Parenteau, Premium’s CEO.

“As two, customer-centric companies, Premium and Emory have worked together during the past few years to provide specialized subcontracting services for one another, and that subcontracting relationship is going to do nothing but grow in the months and years ahead,” noted Burnett. “The synergies between us are unmistakable, so I look forward to seeing what our two companies might accomplish together in the future.”

Headquartered in Abilene, Texas, Emory is an eco-friendly industrial services company that specializes in cleaning, maintaining and repairing heavy industrial equipment, machinery and production plants for customers in an array of industry sectors, including oil and gas, food and beverage, power generation, manufacturing, agriculture, construction and many others.