WesternOne Equity Income Fund said this week that the first modular buildings are being produced in the Waco, Texas, facility of its WEQ Britco LP division. The Texas plant, which had been idle for three years before Britco acquired it in September 2011, now has 80 employees.
WesternOne acquired the assets and business of Britco Structures LLP and Britco Leasing Ltd., one of Canada’s largest designers and manufacturers of commercial portable and permanent modular buildings, in June 2011. Currently, Britco is working on the largest project in its 35-year history, a $50-million project for a large energy company in Alberta, Canada. Britco is providing 880 rooms, which will be contained in 10, two-story dorm wings totaling 280,000 square feet.
“We are very excited to see the first finished modular units from our Texas facility and look forward to designing and building workforce accommodations for our customers in the United States," said Darren Latoski, CEO of WesternOne Equity.
In recent months WesternOne's Britco division has made two significant strategic acquisitions. On Feb. 1, Britco acquired a production plant in Edmonton, Alberta. In the fall of last year, Britco, through its indirectly owned subsidiary in the United States, purchased the large manufacturing facility in Waco, Texas.
Despite the continuing uncertainty in the economy, last year Britco created 177 new jobs. The primary driver for Britco's growth is the demand for workforce housing in the energy, mining and infrastructure sectors in British Columbia, Alberta and the southern U.S.
"Britco's expansion in Edmonton will also mean more work for its factories in B.C. because its stronger presence in Alberta better positions Britco to secure work on large projects in that province," said Latoski. "The energy and mining activity in B.C.'s north and in Alberta is driving our growth and providing jobs for people locally."
WesternOne Equity seeks to primarily acquire and grow businesses in the sector of construction and infrastructure services in order to generate stable and growing distributions to its unitholders as well as to achieve overall capital appreciation. Based in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, WesternOne Rentals & Sales is No. 57 on the RER 100.
