Array Technologies, one of the world's largest makers of solar-tracking systems, said Monday it had closed its acquisition of Affordable Wire Management (AWM), a privately held maker of cable-protection and wire-management gear for solar and battery-storage projects. The deal, first agreed in mid-July, was completed on August 31 and disclosed the same day in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Array paid roughly $165 million in cash at closing, net of customary adjustments, as part of a total consideration package worth up to $203 million. The structure includes a $153 million base payment plus as much as $50 million more in contingent payments — $10 million tied to keeping AWM's leadership team in place through two anniversaries, and a performance-based earnout of up to $40 million spread across 2026, 2027 and 2028, payable in cash or Array stock at the company's choice. The total works out to about 8.8 times AWM's trailing twelve-month earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization through May, according to deal terms first reported when the agreement was signed in July.
A capital-light business with a growing footprint
AWM generates close to $60 million in trailing annual revenue from a capital-light manufacturing model, supplying wire-management and cable-protection products to utility-scale and distributed-generation solar developers across North America and select overseas markets. Its designs, the companies say, offer better durability and lower resistive losses than conventional cable-management hardware — an edge that has helped the closely held firm grow profitably even as larger rivals have struggled with margin pressure.
For Albuquerque-based Array, the appeal extends beyond solar. AWM's product line already reaches into battery energy storage systems and datacenter infrastructure, two markets Array has not historically served at scale despite surging demand for grid-scale batteries and AI-driven data-center construction. Array expects the deal to lift its adjusted earnings per share by a high single-digit percentage in its first year, before accounting for cost synergies.
"The acquisition of AWM will further broaden our balance-of-system portfolio and deepen our relevance to our customers as well as create new growth vectors for us in the BESS and datacenter markets," said Kevin G. Hostetler, Array's chief executive.
AWM's co-founder and chief executive, Scott Rand, framed the sale as a natural fit rather than an exit. "Array's scale, customer relationships, and global reach will make this the ideal home for our team and our products," he said. "We share a culture of innovation and a relentless focus on the customer."
What happens next
AWM's results will be folded into Array's existing Legacy reporting segment starting immediately, and its senior leadership team is staying on to run the business day to day. Jefferies advised Array on the deal, with Jones Day as legal counsel; AWM was advised by First Liberties Financial, with Mintz Levin as its legal counsel. Array has not disclosed a specific timeline for cross-selling AWM's storage and datacenter products into its existing solar customer base, but executives said integration work is already under way.
