Illinois company acquires E.S. Boulos Co. of Westbrook

An Illinois company has signed a purchase agreement to buy a local electrical contracting company that has been in business for 95 years.

MYR Group Inc. of Rolling Meadows, Illinois, announced that it acquired E.S. Boulos Co. of Westbrook in an $11.4 million deal completed Monday.

The acquisition of E.S. Boulos will enhance MYR’s transmission and distribution footprint in the Northeast and establish a commercial presence in the region, according to a news release from MYR Group.

E.S. Boulos offers construction services for the electric utility sector, communication infrastructure and has extensive experience providing commercial and industrial electrical construction. Over the last five years, E.S. Boulos’ annual revenues ranged from $51 million to $86 million and EBITDA margins ranged from 2.4 percent to 5.7 percent, according to the release.

The company was bought by Eversource Energy in 2001 and has operated as a stand-alone, non-regulated entity. E.S. Boulos will continue to operate with its existing staff, under its own name as part of the MYR Group.

Bank of America returns to profit in first quarter

Bank of America returned to a profit in the first quarter as the legal troubles that have plagued the company for several years subsided. But the bank’s primary businesses struggled as interest rates remained low.

BofA has a higher exposure to low interest rates than other banks because of its focus on consumers. Those low rates mean it cannot charge as much on loans.

Revenue fell or was flat in BofA’s four main businesses: consumer banking, wealth management, global banking and global markets.

U.S. homebuilders gain optimism for sales season

U.S. homebuilders are feeling more optimistic that sales will perk up in coming months as the spring home-selling season unfolds.

That would bode well for home construction, which slowed early this year as severe winter weather halted new projects in the Northeast and Midwest.

– From staff and news services