Ellis & Associates Merges With Engineering Consulting Services

    JACKSONVILLE, FL, December 10, 2015 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Heritage Capital Group, an investment banking firm, has announced the successful merger of Ellis & Associates, Inc. headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida and Engineering Consulting Services, headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia.

The transaction was led by Bill Prescott of Heritage Capital Group with terms of the transaction undisclosed. Prescott, successfully matched Ellis & Associates, a regional market leader in geotechnical engineering, with Engineering Consulting Services, a leader in geotechnical, environmental, and construction materials with over 1,300 employees in more than 50 offices, and testing facilities through most of the United States. Ellis & Associates is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Engineering Consulting Services and will continue to provide integrated engineering services support for land procurement throughout the development process of a project.

"What a great find in connecting with Bill Prescott and the folks at Heritage," said Greg Edmunds of Ellis & Associates. "We exhaustively researched several groups that could assist us with our desired exit plan and narrowed it down to two firms: Heritage, who came highly recommended from our CPA and our attorney, and a firm in the northeast who provides M&A services specifically for engineering and architectural firms. After working with the northeast firm in the preliminary process, we weren't pleased with their plan, their approach, and, specifically, their valuation. We then began working with Bill Prescott and Don Wiggins at Heritage Capital Group. Not only did Bill handle this transaction for us extremely professionally, efficiently, and doggedly, but we ended up with proceeds that were double what the previous group said we should expect. For such a huge life-changing experience and one I've worked for my entire professional career, I could not imagine a better outcome."

Bill Prescott is a principal with Heritage Capital Group. Prior to joining Heritage, Bill was the Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Stadium Operations for the Jacksonville Jaguars NFL franchise, and provided financial and operational leadership to the executive team since its inception in 1993. He was responsible for managing all aspects of the financial operations of the Jaguars and EverBank Field venue management. He led the negotiation and due diligence for the sale of the Jacksonville Jaguars to its new owner in 2012. As part of the change in ownership he initiated a rebranding of the Jaguars for the 2012 season, and secured the Jaguars participation in the International Game Series for four years starting with the 2012 season.

From 1995 until 1997 Bill was Treasurer of Liz Claiborne Footwear. In 1995, Bill led the negotiation for the acquisition of the shoe division of Liz Claiborne, Inc. by Liz Claiborne Footwear. He successfully negotiated an asset based loan with JP Morgan Chase to finance the acquisition and growth Liz Claiborne Footwear.

Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, Heritage Capital Group provides a wide range of investment banking services, including buy-side and sell-side M&A advisory work, business valuations, litigation support, exit planning, value enhancement and strategic advisory services, including restructuring and reorganization consulting. Heritage Capital Group is a FINRA regulated broker-dealer and the Florida headquarters of M&A International Inc., which extends its capabilities on a global scale.

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