Biele Appointed CEO of Hoffman Southwest

Hoffman Southwest (“HSW”), a rapidly growing provider of water flow inspection, repair and cleaning services, announced today the hiring of Ken Biele as Chief Executive Officer. A 30-year business veteran, Biele has a demonstrated history of successfully leading, growing and acquiring businesses for mid-size and large multinational public companies.

In his new role, Biele will oversee the next phase of HSW’s aggressive growth plan, which has included two acquisitions since ORIX Capital Partners acquired the company in 2017. The California-based water flow solutions services provider acquired East Coast-based businesses Tri-State Utilities and Accumark, Inc. in February and May of 2019, respectively.

“We are excited to welcome Ken to the HSW team and are confident that he is optimally suited to lead the next phase of the company’s growth,” said Chris Suan, President and Managing Director of ORIX Capital Partners. “With his strong track record and depth of executive experience, Ken is a collaborative leader with a gift for bringing people together and leading teams through efficiency enhancements and improvements. He blends the best practices of a large organization with the resourcefulness and entrepreneurial spirit it takes to grow a business.”

Prior to joining HSW, Biele served as CEO of Advanced Micro Instruments, a manufacturer of best-in-class gas analyzers for the natural gas market and complementary markets, where he established business processes and repositioned the company for greater growth in core and adjacent markets. Biele also served as CEO for JWC Environmental, a leading provider of products and services to the water and wastewater markets, until its sale to the Sulzer Corporation.

Prior to JWC, Biele spent 16 years at Emmerson Electric with senior roles in strategic planning, business development and general management. In these roles, he successfully led multiple add-on acquisitions, expanded channels in international markets and led the introduction of new product lines.

Biele holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic State University (“Virginia Tech”) and a master’s degree in Business Administration from The College of William and Mary.

“It’s an honor to help guide HSW into the future alongside a wonderful team,” said Biele. “With industry-leading technology and financial backing from an operationally-focused partner like ORIX Capital Partners, we’re poised to continue expanding our business while maintaining a firm commitment to keeping entire communities healthy and safe by providing the best services and technologies available for assessment, maintenance and rehabilitation of water flow systems.”

Hoffman Southwest

HSW is a leading provider of water flow solutions services. It’s Professional Pipe Services (Pro-Pipe) division was founded in 1992 and is a leader in underground pipeline condition assessment and repair, utilizing state-of-the-art closed-circuit television (CCTV) and 360-degree scanning systems to digitally map (GIS) underground infrastructure and provide condition scoring for prioritization and assessment. Pro-Pipe's maintenance and rehabilitation solutions include mainline and lateral rehabilitation, pipe cleaning and hydro-excavation services. Pro-Pipe is also a leading provider of cross bore inspection for the natural gas industry. Pro-Pipe serves municipalities, utilities, contractors, engineers, government agencies and facility owners throughout the U.S. through multiple locations across Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Colorado, Nevada, Texas and North Carolina. For more information, visit pro-pipe.com.

HSW acquired Accumark in May of 2019. Accumark is a mid-Atlantic subsurface utility engineering, vacuum excavation, private/public utility locating, sewer inspection/cleaning business. Accumark provides full-service mapping to assist in construction planning activities to reduce risk of damaged utility lines.

In February 2019, HSW acquired Tri-State, a mid-Atlantic sanitary sewer and storm drain rehabilitation (large scale mainline cured-in-place pipe), inspection and cleaning business. Tri-State has the capability to line sanitary sewer and storm drains ranging in diameter from 6 inches to 72 inches.

ORIX Capital Partners

ORIX Capital Partners makes direct control private equity investments that seek to support growth and performance among established middle-market companies throughout North America. The team’s expertise spans industries including industrials, infrastructure services, transportation and business services. ORIX Capital Partners is a business unit of ORIX Corporation USA (ORIX USA), a financial services firm. ORIX USA’s parent company, ORIX Corporation, is a publicly owned international financial services company with operations in 37 countries and regions worldwide. For more information, visit www.orixcapitalpartners.com.

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