Sound Point Capital Management led a $575 million senior secured financing for Greenbeck Capital Partners' acquisition of Peak Utility Services Group, a regional field services provider serving electric and gas utilities across the mid-Atlantic and Southeast. The transaction closed in mid-April, according to sources familiar with the structure. Greenbelt, a Dallas-based middle-market sponsor with $2.1 billion under management, acquired Peak from an undisclosed seller. The financing packages first-lien term debt with a revolving credit facility sized to support near-term tuck-in acquisitions.

Peak operates a fleet-based services business—overhead and underground line construction, storm restoration, vegetation management—for regulated utilities including Duke Energy, Dominion Energy, and Southern Company subsidiaries. The platform generated approximately $420 million in trailing twelve-month revenue as of year-end 2024, up 18% from the prior year, driven by utility infrastructure replacement mandates and incremental storm-hardening work orders. The business employs roughly 1,800 field technicians and operates from 23 service hubs concentrated in North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, and Alabama. EBITDA margins run in the low double digits, consistent with the peer set, but the platform benefits from long-term master service agreements that provide revenue visibility and limit single-customer concentration.

The financing reflects two concurrent dynamics in the lower middle market. First, regulated utility capex is expanding at a 7-9% compound annual rate through 2028, according to Edison Electric Institute forecasts, as aging grid infrastructure meets electrification demand and federal policy incentives for undergrounding and resilience. Second, credit investors are underwriting sponsor-backed field services platforms as defensive plays—steady contract cash flows, minimal technology disruption risk, and asset-light operational profiles that convert EBITDA to free cash flow at high rates. Sound Point, which manages approximately $22 billion across credit strategies, has deployed over $3 billion into sponsor-backed infrastructure services transactions since 2022, including prior financings for telecommunications contractors and renewable energy construction operators.

For allocators, the structure matters. The $575 million facility is fully secured by Peak's contract backlog, equipment fleet, and accounts receivable, with covenants tied to twelve-month forward EBITDA rather than backward-looking metrics. This forward-looking structure allows Greenbelt to pursue accretive add-ons without tripping leverage tests, a feature that aligns with the sponsor's stated rollup strategy. The financing also includes a $75 million delayed-draw term loan earmarked for consolidation plays in adjacent geographies, particularly Tennessee and South Carolina, where smaller regional operators face succession pressure.

Operators should track two follow-on events. First, whether Greenbelt announces a tuck-in acquisition by early Q3 2025, which would signal the platform's ability to integrate and redeploy capital within six months of closing. Second, whether Peak secures incremental master service agreements with utilities outside its current footprint, particularly in Florida or the Carolinas, where hurricane exposure is driving long-term grid investment. Any announcement of a second platform acquisition by Greenbelt in the utility services vertical—rumored but unconfirmed—would indicate the sponsor is building toward a $1 billion+ revenue platform with broader exit optionality.

Sound Point's willingness to anchor a $575 million financing into a sub-$500 million revenue business, at what sources estimate is a leverage multiple above 5.5x EBITDA, tells you where conviction sits in the credit market for contracted infrastructure exposure.