Willdan Group has acquired substantially all of the assets of KCS Corporation, adding a 15-person power delivery engineering team as demand grows for data centers, energy storage and grid modernization projects. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
KCS is an engineering consulting firm based in suburban Chicago specializing in power delivery engineering for critical infrastructure.
Its team will increase Willdan’s internal engineering and project management capacity and add resources to its APG operations.
KCS has worked on substations and renewable energy projects alongside APG in the past, giving the teams an existing operating relationship before the acquisition.
Founded in 1999, KCS provides engineering and construction support across power transmission and distribution, telecommunications, industrial automation and renewable energy.
The company has supported substations and transmission infrastructure for investor-owned utilities as well as wind farms, utility-scale solar projects, battery storage systems and backup generation for data centers.
For Willdan, the acquisition adds engineering talent at a time when new electricity demand from data centers and other large loads is increasing the need for power delivery infrastructure.
KEY QUOTES:
“The demand for our energy infrastructure services has continued to grow. In partnering with KCS on several substation and renewables projects, we recognized engineers and project managers who acted as a natural extension of our team.”
“Their addition further strengthens our in-house capabilities and allows our combined team to more efficiently execute on our power project pipeline and proactively meet this growing demand.”
Mike Bieber, CEO of Willdan
“We’re excited to join Willdan and for the opportunities this next chapter creates for continued growth of our business. We’ve worked closely with the APG team, now part of Willdan, and have experienced firsthand the strong alignment between our teams and how we serve clients.”
“Bringing our capabilities together will allow us to offer our clients a broader range of engineering services while maintaining the personalized approach that has been central to KCS.”
Seemesh M. Sethi, President of KCS Corporation
