New Mountain to acquire fire safety provider Jensen Hughes from Gryphon
- Investment will support Jensen Hughes’ continued growth, global expansion and development of mission-critical engineering capabilities;
- The company’s services include code consulting, fire and life safety system design, nuclear risk and safety advisory services, and research and testing;
- Infrastructure veteran Dr. Hisham Mahmoud to serve as chairman of the company’s board before upon deal closing.
New Mountain Capital announced a definitive agreement to acquire Jensen Hughes, a fire protection and nuclear risk engineering firm, from Gryphon Investors for undisclosed terms.
Formed in 1939, Jensen Hughes provides mission-critical, compliance-driven engineering and consulting services to facility owners, architects and engineers, and nuclear utilities. The company’s services include code consulting, fire and life safety system design, nuclear risk and safety advisory services, and research and testing.
Jensen Hughes is headquartered in Columbia, Maryland and has 2,000 global employees in more than 100 countries.
As part of the deal, New Mountain announced its plan to appoint Dr. Hisham Mahmoud to serve as chairman of Jensen Hughes’ Board. Mahmoud is an industry leader and senior advisor at New Mountain that has served in similar roles at New Mountain portfolio companies Qualus, Consor and Cumming Group. Earlier in his career, Mahmoud served in senior roles at Qualus, SNC-Lavalin and AMEC.
Gryphon acquired a majority stake of Jensen Hughes in 2015 from Huron Capital Partners. The company went on a multi-continental add-on spree over its 11-year hold with Gryphon, growing from 40 locations at the time to over 100 as of late 2025.
AEC Advisors and Harris Williams were co-financial advisers to New Mountain. BofA Securities was financial adviser to Jensen Hughes.
Gryphon’s sale of Jensen Hughes caps off an auction process that PE Hub senior reporter Michael Schoeck exclusively reported in April was in the early stages. Sources told PE Hub that the company could see a valuation of up to $1.5 billion, based on fire safety industry tailwinds creating strong buyout interest in the $100 million EBITDA company.
