April 22, 2021

New York, NY – Circon Environmental (“Circon” or the “Company”), a portfolio company of Kinderhook Industries, LLC (“Kinderhook”), announced today the acquisition of Water Integrated Treatment Systems (“WITS”). WITS represents the fourth add-on acquisition for Circon and Kinderhook’s 54^th environmental services transaction. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Headquartered in La Porte, Texas, Circon is a leading industrial liquids management business servicing both hazardous and non-hazardous liquid waste generators and provider of hazardous waste removal, transportation and disposal solutions with a commitment to providing its customers with sustainability focused solutions. The Company specializes in procuring, blending, treating, and processing petroleum, petrochemical products, and waste streams, and is one of the leading services providers within the Gulf Coast and Chicago regions. Circon has ten highly strategic facilities including six CWTs, two RCRA Part B facilities, and two diversified co-products processing facility with centrifuge separation processing and atmospheric and vacuum distillation as well as storage along the Houston Ship Channel. Circon’s facilities are barge, rail, and truck ready for onloading and offloading.

Headquartered in Dolton, IL, WITS provides turn-key waste treatment services managing non-hazardous liquids for water treatment, non-hazardous waste streams for solidification and oil/water for recovery & treatment. Founded in 2015 by industry veteran Rico Martinez, WITS operates two CWT facilities (Dolton, IL and Kenosha, WI), and also provides transportation services to supplement its core treatment capabilities. WITS has been able to rapidly scale its operations and gain market share in two densely-populated industrial markets: Chicago and Milwaukee.

“We are excited to add the WITS facilities and team to our expanding network of CWTs across the existing network of Circon locations.” says Circon CEO, Frank Iezzi. “Circon continues to be committed to expanding in both new and existing geographies in order to better serve its customers and deliver a greater level of services with a focus on delivering sustainable services with quantifiable metrics. Our new Dolton, IL and Kenosha, WI locations will play a key role as we increase our services in the Great Lakes region. We are most importantly thrilled to welcome the WITS team, which has a history of delivering world class service, to the Circon family!”

“The WITS team is excited to join the Circon family.” says Rico Martinez, founder of WITS. “Circon’s deep industry knowledge and access to additional resources will benefit our existing operation tremendously. We look forward to collaborating with Circon to continue to deliver best-in-class service to our valued customers.”

Rob Michalik, Managing Director of Kinderhook, stated, “The acquisition of WITS will enable Circon to win market share and expand its CWT presence, which has been a strategic focus for the Company. We look forward to welcoming the WITS team and its long-standing reputation of quality service to Circon and look forward to using this transaction as a catalyst for future growth.”

Kirkland & Ellis served as legal counsel to Kinderhook and Circon. Seyfarth Shaw LLP served as legal counsel to WITS.

For additional information about this transaction, please contact: 
Robert Michalik
Managing Director
(212) 201-6789
[email protected]
 
Corwynne Carruthers
Managing Director
(212) 201-6799
[email protected]
 
Sam Keenan
Principal
(212) 201-6795
[email protected]