Madison Street Capital

Madison Street Capital, an international investment banking firm, announced the merger between the mechanical and electrical consulting engineering firm, Gausman & Moore, and Ayres Associates, a civil engineering and architecture firm. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Madison Street Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Gausman & Moore in the merger. The merging of the two businesses results in an approximately 350-person firm with offices in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Florida, Colorado, California, and Wyoming. Charles Botchway, CEO of Madison Street Capital, announced that Managing Director Jim Cohen led the Madison Street Capital team.

“Our dedicated attention to the needs of our clients, depth of knowledge in the business services sector in the lower middle market, and our experience leading successful transactions enabled us to achieve the desired results for the Gausman & Moore team. Ed Studniski and Daniel Sandoval were a pleasure to work with and I am pleased that the leadership and advice we provided throughout the process resulted in a successful transaction,” noted Jim Cohen, Managing Director at Madison Street Capital.

Both Gausman & Moore and Ayres Associates enter the merger with ambitious growth plans.
“We truly appreciate the experience and professionalism Jim and the entire Madison Street Capital team brought to our project. Their dedication was integral in meeting our goal of finding the best strategic partner, while being able to maintain our commitment to our longtime architectural clients,” said Daniel Sandoval, President of Gausman and Moore.

“Ayres and Gausman & Moore share strong reputations in the government and commercial markets, and our combined experience in the education, energy, health care, residential, and industrial markets will bring our clients even greater confidence in our leadership in these areas,” says Bruce Ommen, PE, president of Ayres. “Culturally, this merger joins firms that are virtual twins, with our commitment to delivering creative solutions to clients we treat as partners, as well as our passion for giving back to the communities where we work.”

Established 62 years ago in the engineering and architecture fields, Ayres Associates has since expanded into many more service offerings including planning and development, river engineering and water resources, structural design and inspection, telecommunications and SUE, and transportation.

Leaning on its 80+ year history of providing MEP consulting services, Gausman & Moore will continue to team with its longtime base of architecture clients to design efficiency into buildings with its MEP, energy modeling, and renewable energy expertise.

In addition, Gausman & Moore’s energy and MEP services can also be employed on specific Ayres projects including: utility, dam, moveable bridge, renewable energy, industrial, municipal, and street lighting and signalization. Gausman & Moore’s energy expertise also adds breadth to the vision Ayres’ planning and development experts can provide as they imagine the potential of sites that developers are transforming in the Southeast, Midwest, and West. Gausman & Moore’s expertise has been instrumental in helping clients achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified and equivalent projects.

“We wish the entire Gausman & Moore team the best and look forward to their continued growth and success under the Ayres umbrella,” added Jim Cohen, Managing Director at Madison Street Capital.