Recent developments have added another chapter to USM’s story.

Emcor Group announced May 18 an agreement to acquire USM Services from Transfield Services. The transaction is expected to close at the end of June for $255 million in cash. The purchase will allow Emcor to include additional services, such as snow removal, to its mechanical services portfolio, says Tony Guzzi, president and chief executive officer.

But for now, Emcor is remaining silent on any possible changes to the current USM business model once it becomes one of the more than 75 Emcor operating companies.

USM saw exterior facilities maintenance contracts with Wal-Mart nationwide dissolved this spring, including snow removal, lawn and landscaping, power washing and lot sweeping. Currently, USM works with about 11,000 contractors throughout the U.S. across the commercial maintenance services. Adding those contractors without including a large labor force while gaining more commercial opportunities was a point of attraction to the sale, says Guzzi.

Transfield Services actively sought to sell USM because retail customers served by the company were still facing a weak economy, says Peter Goode, Transfield chief executive.

For some of those contracts lost with Wal-Mart at the end of the season, store managers have been working with in-house services or directly with local contractors.

When the final arrangements have been made and this agreement is complete, where does this leave snow contractors both inside and out USM’s partnership? Neither USM nor Emcor is willing to speculate at this time on snow removal contractor service agreements this coming winter or for the immediate future.

How do you think the USM sale will affect the snow industry? What does it mean for your local market? Let us know at snow@gie.net or on Facebook or Twitter.