New York-based Blackstone makes majority investment in North Texas-based Westwood Professional Services » Dallas Innovates

Westwood Professional Services CEO Bryan Powell (Photo: Westwood)

Westwood Professional Services, an engineering and design firm based in Plano, has received a majority stake from New York-based Blackstone and Blackstone-affiliated venture capital funds.

Founded in 1971, Westwood is a full-service professional engineering firm specializing in wind, solar, energy storage, power delivery, EV infrastructure, commercial, institutional, residential and public infrastructure projects. Its team of more than 1,600 employees operates from more than two dozen offices nationwide.

The financial terms of the investment were not disclosed.

Blackstone said it will acquire an equity stake in Westwood from Endurance Partners, with Westwood management and employee shareholders retaining a minority stake.

“For more than 50 years, Westwood has strived to advance communities by providing critical engineering and design services to our clients,” Westwood CEO Bryan Powell said in a statement. “We are excited about this new partnership with Blackstone, as it positions the firm to further expand its capabilities in Westwood’s key end markets, including renewable energy, power, land development and public infrastructure, each of which is poised to benefit from long-term tailwinds of growth.

“We are grateful to Endurance Partners for helping us grow Westwood into the company it is today,” Powell added.

Powell was named CEO of Westwood last September following the retirement of former leader Paul Greenhagen. The company was headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, before moving its headquarters to Plano late last year.

Supporting the “increasing use of renewable energy sources” and investment in energy systems

Westwood provides front-end design and engineering services supporting renewable energy development, grid investment and the continued expansion of public and private infrastructure across the country.

“Westwood brings critical experience and resources to support the growing adoption of renewables and energy system investments across the United States and is well-positioned to continue building on its impressive growth,” said Darius Sepassi, Senior Managing Director, and Mitchell Nimocks, Managing Director, Blackstone Energy Transition Partners, in a joint statement. “We look forward to combining the strength of Blackstone’s global scale and resources with Westwood’s talent to expand and strengthen our valued partnerships with new and existing clients across the renewables, energy, land development and public infrastructure value chains.”

David Foley, global head of Blackstone Energy Transition Partners, said the company has made a significant commitment with this investment.

“Our partnership with Westwood’s exceptional management team builds on our recent investments in the energy transition, including Trystar and Sediver, providing key services and equipment needed to facilitate the transition to more reliable, affordable and cleaner energy. With this investment, Blackstone Energy Transition Partners will be committing approximately $1.3 billion in control-focused capital investments in the energy transition beginning in June,” Foley said.

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