SC&H Capital, a leading investment bank specializing in M&A advisory, announced that its client, Marine Technologies, Inc. (“MTI”) has sold its marine construction operation to Ballard Marine Construction LLC (“Ballard”) via an asset sale.  

MTI was founded in 1992 as a commercial diving operation. The Company was purchased by Terry Clarke in 2012, and under his leadership was transformed into a full-service marine construction operation providing a multitude of heavy, marine and underwater construction services to government agencies, municipalities and a host of other private and industrial clients. The Company employs a team of over 60 highly skilled, technically sound and knowledgeable personnel.  

After Terry’s passing in 2017, his wife, Lisa Clarke, took over as CEO to carry on her husband’s legacy and maintain employment for the Company’s longstanding and loyal workforce.

In January of 2022, SC&H Capital’s Special Situations team was retained by the Company as the exclusive investment banker to seek a buyer that would continue MTI’s legacy. SC&H conducted an exhaustive marketing process that generated interest from over 45 potential buyers. The team ultimately negotiated a transaction with Ballard, a Washougal, Washington-based specialty marine and underwater contractor that has worked in the heavy civil marine construction industry since the 1970s. Serving clients nationally and internationally, Ballard provides turnkey infrastructure inspection, construction, rehabilitation and maintenance solutions. As a result of this transaction, Ballard will retain the majority of MTI’s workforce and complete all its existing projects.

“We were pleased to have found a buyer whose culture seamlessly aligned with MTI’s, and to have worked with the team of professionals assembled by the Company to achieve the best possible outcome,” said Hank Waida, Principal at SC&H Capital. “The Clarke family was able to preserve a 30-year legacy while maximizing their return from the business they built.”

Other professionals who worked on the transaction include Edward Lee and Jordan M. Halle of Whiteford, Taylor & Preston, counsel for Marine Technologies, Inc. and Tim Cummins and Barry Rieger of Aronson LLC, accountants/advisors for Marine Technologies, Inc.