J.S. Held buys Wakelee Associates

J.S. Held LLC, a Lovell Minnick Partners portfolio company, said Monday it acquired Wakelee Associates LLC. Financial terms weren’t announced. Hackensack, New Jersey-based Wakelee Associates is an 18-person construction and mitigation consulting firm providing cost and time analysis of residential, commercial and industrial property damage, and owner’s representative services to its clients. EMA Partners LLC provided financial advice while Cole Schotz P.C. acted as legal counsel to Wakelee Associates. Morgan Lewis & Bokius LLP served as legal counsel to J.S. Held.

PRESS RELEASE
January 04, 2016 09:45 AM Eastern Standard Time
JERICHO, N.Y. & HACKENSACK, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–J.S. Held LLC, a leading national construction consulting firm providing specialized services to the insurance industry, today announced the acquisition of Wakelee Associates, LLC. Timothy Woods, Wakelee’s President, joins J.S. Held as Executive Vice President. Financial terms of the private transaction were not disclosed.
Based in Hackensack, NJ, Wakelee Associates is an 18-person construction and mitigation consulting firm providing cost and time analysis of residential, commercial and industrial property damage, and owner’s representative services to its clients.
“We are excited to welcome Tim and the entire Wakelee staff of energetic and knowledgeable professionals to our team,” said Jon Held, President and Chief Executive Officer of J.S. Held. “Joining forces with Wakelee allows us to deepen our bench in the Northeast in serving the needs of clients.”
“The expert services of J.S. Held and their successful project management discipline clearly align with our approach, and that creates a great home for our clients and our people,” said Woods. “We’re confident that joining J.S. Held will contribute significantly to our ability to provide an even more comprehensive range of services to clients. We look forward to working closely with Jon and his team.”
Earlier this year, J.S. Held received a controlling investment from Lovell Minnick Partners, a private equity firm specializing in investing in financial and related business services companies. In July 2015, J.S. Held announced the acquisition of the Property Loss Division of Chroma Building Corp. and the addition of industry veteran Doug DePhillips to the management team.
EMA Partners, LLC served as financial advisor, and Cole Schotz, P.C. acted as legal counsel to Wakelee Associates. Morgan Lewis & Bokius, LLP served as legal counsel to J.S. Held.
About J.S. Held LLC
Established in 1974, J.S. Held is a leading construction consulting firm specializing in property loss analysis, estimating, scheduling, construction claims advisory services, project management, and dispute resolution services. J.S. Held’s consultants have provided their expertise on more than 100,000 commercial, industrial, high rise, special structures, governmental, residential, and infrastructure construction matters globally. The Company serves its clients from over 25 locations throughout the U.S. and Canada. For more information regarding J.S. Held, please visit www.jsheld.com.
About Wakelee Associates, LLC
Wakelee Associates (www.wakeleellc.com) is dedicated to assisting insurance professionals and attorneys throughout the U.S. with resolving claims quickly, accurately and equitably. Wakelee has extensive experience in construction estimating, project management, dispute resolution, and job site monitoring. The company provides accurate and reliable cost and time analysis of commercial, industrial and residential property damage due to fire, water, earthquake, floods, hurricanes and other disasters.