J.S. Held Acquires Wakelee Associates

On Jan 4, 2016

New York-based J.S. Held LLC, a leading national construction consulting firm providing specialized services to the insurance industry, announced the acquisition of Hackensack-based 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.

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.

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