Strategic Management Solutions, a small contractor for the Department of Energy and its National Nuclear Security Administration, has been acquired by a Louisiana-based private equity management firm led by a former Shaw Group executive.
The purchase of Strategic Management Solutions, LLC (SMSI) was announced Tuesday in a press release by Bernhard Capital Partners. The buyer is based in Baton Rouge, La., and its founding partner is Jim Bernhard, former president and chairman of the Shaw Group.
SMSI, founded in 1999 and based in Albuquerque, N.M., is being folded into Bernhard’s DOE portfolio, according to the release. Terms of the deal were not released.
“I am confident that, as part of this best-in-class platform, we will capitalize on a number of exciting opportunities to continue to grow our business and expand the support we provide for customers, all while maintaining our unique corporate culture and professional ethics,” SMSI Founder and Chairman Lee Bernstein said in the release.
Bernstein and SMSI helped set up “a recovery program” around the Los Alamos National Laboratory following the Cerro Grande Fire in 2000, according to the contractor’s website. Today the company has a staff of more than 400 people.
SMSI is the third contractor for the DOE weapons complex to be bought by the Bernhard Capital Partners services platform, according to the release. The other two are Boston Government Services and Sterling Engineering & Consulting Group.
David O’Flynn, SMSI’s chief executive officer, will take an executive director post for the Bernhard DOE platform, according to the release.
“We are pleased to join Bernhard Capital’s dedicated DOE platform and are excited to work together and build on SMSI’s momentum and reputation as a partner of choice for customers within the DOE, NNSA and other federal markets,” O’Flynn said in the release.
O’Flynn succeeded Bernstein as chief executive last year. Matt Nuckols remains as SMSI president, according to the news release.
