The Corix Group of Companies has purchased two of Kelowna’s leading companies – Interior Instrument Tech Services Ltd. (IITS) and Interior Instrument Engineering Services Ltd. (IIES).
Both companies are owned by Kelowna residents Ken and Catherine Hansen, and operate out of the same 5,000 square-foot facility on St. Paul Street.
“We are very excited to have IITS and IIES join the Corix family,” said Steve Little, vice-president and chief operating officer of Utility Products Canada.
“Both are very successful businesses with strong reputations for customer service and support.”
IITS was formed in 1973 and currently has 15 employees, including co-owner Ken Hansen. An electrical, instrumentation and controls (EI&C) construction and service company, IITS also has a CSA/CSAus certified control panel manufacturing shop.
The company has a Class ‘A’ electrical contracting license and their control panels are certified for use anywhere in North America.
IIES is an EI&C engineering company that provides design and programming services to IITS, municipalities and smaller engineering firms that require EI&C expertise. It offers both design only and design/build engineering services.
Founded in 2011, IIES has four employees—two professional engineers (for the design side) and two programmers (for system integration work).
“The sale of the two companies to Corix makes the most business sense for us at this time,” said Ken Hansen.
“They are respected as a leader in our industry all across North America, and as such, can provide growth opportunities of a much larger scale than we could attain on our own.”
Corix will be looking to build on what is already a solid business platform for both companies. IITS has a strong presence in the southern B.C. Interior for sales and service of a full range of instrumentation and controls systems and services.
For its part, IIES is a significant player in the municipal market in central B.C. Given that their panel shop can build to CSA (Canada regulatory) or CSAus (USA regulatory) standards, it also has strong growth potential in other parts of B.C. and beyond.
Both IITS and IIES will operate as Interior Instruments, a Division of Corix Control Solutions LP. While the financial details of the transaction weren’t released, Corix will retain the current employees of the two companies.
The Corix Group of Companies is a leading provider of sustainable utility infrastructure solutions across North America. Corix has more than 2,200 employees operating in 31 states and six provinces across the United States and Canada.
Corix is privately held, with BC Investment Management Corporation as its primary owner.