...Greetings, and welcome to the Quanta Services call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A brief question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Kip Rupp. You may begin.
Thank you, and welcome everyone to the call. This morning, we issued a press release announcing Quanta's acquisition of Cupertino Electric or CEI, which can be found in the Investor Relations section of our website at quantaservices.com. Additionally, earlier this morning, we posted a slide deck regarding the acquisition on our investor relations website, which includes information about the strategic rationale, an overview of CEI and industry dynamics, as well as a transaction summary and financial overview. While management will make introductory remarks during this morning's call, we do not intend to walk through the slide deck on this call to allow additional time for questions from the institutional investment community. We ask that you keep your questions to topics related to the acquisition of CEI this morning.
Please remember that the information reported on this call speaks only as of today, July 18, 2024, and therefore you are advised that any time-sensitive information may no longer be accurate as of any replay of this call. Additionally, as a reminder, our second quarter 2024 earnings release and conference call is scheduled for August 1, 2024, and therefore, updated financial guidance expectations for Quanta on a consolidated basis have not been provided in the materials and should not be interpreted from any information provided in the materials or on this call. This call will include forward-looking statements and information intended to qualify under the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements reflecting expectations, intentions, assumptions, or beliefs about future events or financial performance that do not solely relate to historical or current facts.
You should not place undue reliance on these statements as they involve certain risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict or beyond Quanta's control, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied. We will also present certain historical and forecasted non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to the materials for additional information regarding these forward-looking statements and non-GAAP financial measures. Lastly, please sign up for email alerts through the investor relations section of quantaservices.com to receive notifications of news releases and other information, and follow Quanta IR and Quanta Services on the social media channels listed on our website. With that, I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Duke Austin, Quanta's President and CEO. Duke?
Thanks, Kip. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our call. We are excited to announce Quanta's acquisition of Cupertino Electric or CEI, a leading electrical infrastructure solutions provider to the technology, renewable energy and infrastructure, and commercial industries. We have admired CEI for over a decade and believe the combination of Quanta and CEI creates a comprehensive, end-to-end electrical infrastructure solution across the electrical complex, from electron generation to transmission to consumption, and provides Quanta another craft skilled platform to further diversify and expand our customer base and service offerings. In addition to being an industry leader, CEI shares many key characteristics with Quanta, including a safety-first, employee-focused organization. Like many of Quanta's other operating companies, CEI was a management and family-owned business established by entrepreneurs. They drive solutions centered on craft skill labor, like Quanta.
CEI self-performs more than 80% of their work, and they are a trusted, long-standing, collaborative partner to their customers. Quanta is experiencing unprecedented demand in our end, in our end markets, particularly around large-scale, mission-critical programs and projects. As the scale and complexity of infrastructure programs have expanded, we believe there is a convergence developing across the utility, renewable energy, and technology industries. Quanta's ability to deliver scalable solutions built around craft skill labor puts us in a unique position to provide comprehensive infrastructure solutions across these industries, which are driving electric load growth and the energy transition. Like Quanta, craft skill labor is CEI's core, and we believe their low-voltage technical workforce is complementary to Quanta's high-voltage workforce, and together provides a meaningful platform to unlock growth synergies across customers and several verticals.
Further, we believe significant synergies exist as a CEI platform can benefit from Quanta's workforce development programs, geographic reach, and large-scale procurement and supply chain solutions. Following our discussion this morning, we think you will agree that with the acquisition of CEI, Quanta will be even more focused on the most active and attractive areas of the electrical infrastructure complex: the power grid, renewable energy, and large consumers of electricity. CEI significantly increases our exposure to the large and growing data center market and has an experienced and deep management team with a successful track record of designing and building electrical systems for some of the largest and most complex data centers in the United States....
Additionally, CEI's solar and battery storage capabilities provide Quanta with an established mid-market, utility-scale renewables platform with technical expertise that is complementary in scope to and enhances Quanta's existing large-scale, utility-scale renewables platform. We are positioning Quanta for decades of expected necessary infrastructure investment and believe our service line diversity creates platforms for growth that expand our total addressable market. Our portfolio approach and focus on craft skill labor is a strategic advantage that we believe provides us the ability to manage risk and shift resources across service lines and geographies, which is increasingly important as the energy transition and new technology add complexity to infrastructure programs. We believe our diversity and portfolio approach has also improved our cash flow and returns profile, and positions us well to allocate resources to opportunities we find most economically attractive and to achieve operating efficiencies and consistent financial results.
We believe the acquisition of CEI enhances our opportunity to create significant value for all our stakeholders. We welcome this world-class organization and its employees to the Quanta family and are excited to deliver industry-leading infrastructure solutions together. I will now turn the call over to Jayshree Desai, Quanta's CFO, to provide a few remarks about CEI acquisition, and then we will take your questions. Jayshree?
Thanks, Duke, and good morning, everyone. As Duke said, we are excited about the acquisition of CEI and believe it is a great fit for Quanta and strongly aligns with our strategies for sustainable success. Quanta paid an upfront purchase price of approximately $1.5 billion, which includes approximately $225 million of Quanta stock. The former owners have an opportunity to receive additional consideration of up to $200 million based upon post-closing EBITDA earned during a three-year period beginning January first, 2025. The upfront consideration represents a multiple of just over 9x CEI's expected 2024 EBITDA, which we believe represents an attractive entry multiple and supports meaningful value creation for our stockholders.
The cash proceeds paid at closing were funded by the combination of cash on hand, borrowings under our credit facility, and a short-term term loan facility, and we are currently evaluating debt refinancing options. Post-closing, our estimated pro forma net debt to EBITDA ratio is slightly above 2x, and we expect to delever to below 2x by the end of this year. Quanta's full year 2024 financial results will include approximately 5.5 months of CEI's financial results. During that period, we expect CEI to contribute revenues of approximately $1 billion-$1.1 billion and adjusted EBITDA of approximately $80 million-$90 million.
For the full year of 2025, we currently estimate that CEI will contribute revenues of approximately $2.3 billion-$2.4 billion, adjusted EBITDA of $175 million-$195 million, and adjusted diluted EPS of $0.40-$0.50. However, these results are preliminary and subject to change as we work through the closing balance sheet and assess opening positions across their active projects, and accordingly, we have taken a prudent approach to these forecasts. Beyond 2024, Quanta expects CEI to contribute meaningfully to our financial profile in the near and longer term, with the opportunity to grow revenues at a double-digit compound annual growth rate. With CEI's capital-light operating model and lower working capital needs, they are expected to support continued improvement to our cash flow conversion and return on invested capital.
Additionally, though not included in our financial expectations and our returns assessment, we believe there is opportunity to increase CEI's growth and improve their margin profile through operating leverage and volume-driven synergies. We see significant opportunities to optimize the combined platform and offer holistic electrical infrastructure solutions as our end markets and customer base converge over time. We believe CEI has all the key criteria that Quanta looks for in a company that will complement and enhance our portfolio, not just operationally, but financially. With that, we are happy to answer your questions. Operator?
Thank you. We will now be conducting a question-and-answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star two if you would like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys. At this time, we are limiting participants to one question and one follow-up question. You may re-queue to ask additional questions. One moment, please, while we poll for questions. Thank you. Our first question is from Jamie Cook with Truist Securities. Please proceed.
Hi, good morning, and congratulations on the deal. So Duke, I guess first, you know, the transaction makes a lot of sense strategically. But can you talk to first, sort of where you see the biggest opportunities, you know, on the revenue synergy side? If you could frame, you know, what the potential is, where the potential is, either by end market or by customer, and is it more of a revenue versus sort of cost synergy opportunity? And then my second question, obviously, you have a lot of great growth out there. You're in the right markets. You know, you've done Blattner, and now we've done this acquisition. We have SunZia.
But to what degree, how do you think the growth profile and some of these acquisitions we've done, plus SunZia, changes the risk profile of Quanta's business model, if any, and what you're doing to sort of manage risk differently given the growth you have ahead of you and the size of the company coupled with these acquisitions? Thank you.
... Hi, good morning, Jamie. When we thought about Cupertino, for one, I think it really fits us and the culture here and the way we, we think about acquisitions, management teams. So the management team certainly very much is in line with how we run Quanta and, you know, from an operations-led team, they self-perform 85%, so a lot of opportunity for us, in their sector and where they're at. We, we've purposely stayed out of the low voltage arena for the most part for 20 years, and I think this, we have not had a platform that we could lean into and get behind. We've admired Cupertino for, and the management team, and the craft here for decades, and certainly have been in discussions for many years, and, and it just was the right time for both parties to move into.
But we believe these macro markets that are, what's really driving electric load growth is Cupertino's customers, and with technology and, you know, and beyond. So as we see that, we see a solution-based company, end-to-end solution into Cupertino's customers as well as our utility customers, and how we mold that together and find the synergies. The deal does not have synergies in it, so there's many, many synergies that we'll get out of this, that just like we've done with Blattner on a go-forward basis. As far as the risk, when I think about the risk of the deal, and does it change risk? No, it doesn't. Its self-perform capabilities are 85%. The craft is world-class. If craft, if it's not, you know, data centers and mid-market solar, we'll move the craft to chip manufacturing, clean rooms.
It doesn't matter that the company has done many, many projects over decades and moved with their customers. I think that's a big, big thing to think about. As Quanta, we've moved with our utility customers as they move into different markets. Cupertino's moved with their customers as they've moved into markets. They're known for their craft and how they complete work on time, on budget, critical projects, just very much like us. And we couldn't, you know, be happier to find, you know, perfect fit for us to move in this market. And the verticals that it leads us into as well from craft. You know, craft is where we're from, our management team's craft. We feel very, very comfortable with this deal and what we can do with it.
The management teams here today, and I can only say that they're all on board, and we're all pretty excited.
Thank you.
Our next question comes from Michael Dudas with Vertical Research Partners. Please proceed.
Morning, Kip, Duke, Jayshree.
Morning.
Duke, in the presentation, you highlight where you have a breakdown of the business of percentage of revenues across. Maybe you can elaborate a little bit more on, you know, the backlog. The backlog growth seems pretty sharp. You know, going in and looking at the three-year plan and what you looked at on a due diligence, where are some of the areas you see, you know, some maybe better growth than anticipated, and how the positioning of where their customers are located and where the craft opportunities are overlay with what Quanta has throughout its national platform?
Yeah, thanks, Mike. Yeah, the markets are obviously, technology markets are great, they're robust. The combination between the two companies will really allow a solution-based approach to technology, and I think it's something that's needed. We see it on the utility side, the lack of generation in areas and where to site. How quickly can we get to market with both companies will matter. So it's really quickness to market in many ways through technology, whether it's hyperscalers or chip manufacturing, it doesn't matter. We can move craft around, just like we have with Quanta, where we're transmission, distribution, renewables. Our craft and Cupertino's craft is world-class. We can build just about anything. So when it comes to electrification, an end-to-end solution. That end-to-end solution, I can't say enough about it. I think it's the biggest thing.
It's not a craft commodity, it's a solution that we'll be able to provide to Cupertino's customers as well as our utility customers, and how we marry that together will be important. Cupertino's grown up through the years with technology, moved with them, and their trades. So I really like that part of it, and I think we can do and collaborate and do great things at the client level, which is what we're all about. We're really trying to provide the ultimate customer a solution, whether it be a general contractor or the ultimate technology company, it doesn't matter. We're really trying to provide that solution. So I think that's really important.
Yes, and on craft, I do think our colleagues, the way we train, how we recruit is very applicable, right, to Cupertino's employee base and craft, same, very much. And so I don't see any difference there. We'll be able to help with curriculum and with safety, with recruiting. I think that's something that we both, you know, feel strongly about, making sure that we give craft every reason to be here and every reason, you know, to train them to the top levels of their trade. So we wanna do that, and we're very much bought into making sure that we recruit, train, and keep delivering a product that we've delivered for decades.
Thanks, Duke.
Our next question comes from Justin Hauke from Baird. Please proceed.
Hi, good morning, everybody. Thanks for taking my question here. I guess I wanted to drill down into maybe the revenue growth and the margin split across their segments or business lines that you're calling out. You know, there's I guess the financials imply about 6% EBITDA growth in 2024, which would imply the margins were down a little bit. So maybe just a little bit more color about the relative growth and margin profile within it.
Yeah, I mean, I think the company's, you know, over time, is doing double-digit type growth, over double-digit type growth on the top line. You know, as far as where we're at from a margin profile, we're, we're really thinking the company is kind of upper mid-single digits here. Without synergies, I do believe we'll find some synergies with both companies together. We've been conservative how we've looked at it. I, I do believe there's upside to it. We have not baked any of that in the deal. They haven't had a chance really to, to work together on from supply chains on the solar side of the business. It's, it's not much different than what we're doing with Blattner, so there'll be some synergies there in supply chain.
There'll be synergies, how we use labor, how we go to customers and things of that nature between the two companies. We know they're there. We just haven't shown up, and we fully expect to operate them at a higher margin than we are now. We have the opportunity to do so, than what we've talked about. But it's just like any other acquisition. We take a prudent approach to it. We'll get back with you. We're giving earnings in next year, in 5 months and 6 months, and so 2 weeks for earnings and then farther along in 2025. We've given you the numbers as we see it today. I do think they'll get better, and we're excited about it. I... the opportunities are there.
I also think the growth verticals are great for Quanta and what we can do from this platform.
Okay. Thank you. And I guess my second question, so there's 30%, I guess, cost plus or time and materials. Does that mean that the other 70% is fixed price? Which would be a little bit more than what you guys traditionally do, and I guess the question would be just, you know, how comfortable you are with the backlog and, you know, some of the acquired project work that you, that you have, particularly in, in verticals maybe you're not already in?
Yeah, I mean, I think most of the... You gotta think about it. You have a 70-year-old company with a long track record of margin profiles and the way that they look at work, and the team that's here, 4,300 employees and superintendents and the people in the field and how they process. We're very comfortable with how they operate. It's much like Quanta in many ways, where, yes, they're hard bid, but they're the preferred provider in many areas. And, you know, whether it be from a general contractor or straight to technology or whoever it may be, they're preferred. And I think from our standpoint, it's not about really pricing as much as it is how we go to market, how quickly we can get things done, and reputation.
Yes, we have to be competitive, and we're gonna- we're going to be competitive, but how quickly can we get it done? How much do they trust us? And the combination of the two, you've really taken the whole electric scope, which is different than we've seen in the past. It gives you that end-to-end solution. They also have front-end capabilities, which I think add to us. And that combination, it'll take a little bit of time for the customer to understand, much like SunZia, but once we kind of go to market and they see the value that we can create for the end user, I think you'll see a difference in both margin and growth.
Great. Well, good luck. Thank you for taking the questions.
Our next question comes from Mark Bianchi from TD Cowen. Please proceed.
Thank you. I wanted to ask a little bit more about the competitive landscape in this data center application that Cupertino participates in. So, it says they're, in the slides here, they're premier manufacturer in this area. They're ranked sixth largest by ENR, but I suspect that's a much broader definition of what this data center application is. So could you talk to, you know, how fragmented the market is for that offering? Maybe what their market share looks like, or if they have a lead, you know, how much bigger they are than the next guy? Just help us understand where they sit.
Technology is about 30% of the business, so I want to be clear about that. Thirty, well, call it 40%, of the business. So I think that's one thing to note. When you think about data centers, yes, it's the flavor of the day, but it's much broader. Cupertino is much broader than that. This craft is exceptional. They can do clean rooms. They can do anything from an electric standpoint, guide us to it. We can go from the generation all the way to the home. So really, really end-to-end solution here. They have a modular capabilities, which I think really enhances Quanta.
That modularization is something that we believe is important because it speeds up, you know, from my standpoint, it speeds up our solution to market, not only in the data center world, but beyond. So we like the modularization piece of this, and they've been doing it for a long time and have a lot of history. And, you know, that comes with some... you learn by mistakes. So we think that they've got the mistakes out, and we will benefit from their learnings and as we move forward and learn what on the high voltage side we can also modularize. And we're excited about that part of it, too.
If you put it on a board on the things that we were trying to do and from a growth standpoint, a strategy standpoint, they fit all of it.
Okay, great. Thanks, Duke. I'll turn it back.
Our next question comes from Adam Thalhimer, from Thompson Davis & Co. Please proceed.
Morning, guys. Congrats on the deal. Hey, Duke, can I just pick up right where you left off? How many modular facilities and how much sq ft do they have?
Yeah, I'm not. We can expand it. I'm not sure exactly the numbers, but you know, one big facility, we can start. We have some facilities. The facilities won't be the issue. It'll be more how do we, from an engineering standpoint, making sure that the customer is with us and understands what we're trying to accomplish as well. So just, it's really more about getting the customers comfortable with modularization. I, I'm not concerned with our ability on the electric side to modularize, excuse me, tongue-tied here, on that one. But in general, I do think we can certainly shave some time to market here.
Yeah. No, I really like that part of the deal. And then the backlog growth, can you comment on that? So $1.3 billion at the end of 2023, but that jumped to $1.9 billion in June. Maybe you can just give some more history on what was it before $1.3 billion, and how should we read into that level of backlog growth?
Well, I mean, I think you can hear it. You know, when you start talking about multi-gigs of data centers across the country, in North America, and, you know, the premier electric provider in that arena, I would say, you know, we expect backlog to continue to grow. It's more about labor resources and, you know, the constraints. It's different than the line trade, where there's more constraints here on who can build these things out. And yes, we have to work together and use our internal resources, which we have a significant amount of internal resources without a platform.
So certainly the synergy would be, can we take our internal resources and match it up with what Cupertino is doing with their processes and their superintendents, and use our craft together to create a bigger solution for the clients? It's not about the client wanting more, it's us, can we deliver it? And I think we have to work together on how we deliver to market and make sure that we keep the quality where it's at. And that'll be key for us, is just how do we scale it? How quickly can we scale it? And our ability to build backlog will only be by labor constraints on the inside market, inside the electricity.
Great. Thank you, Duke.
Thanks.
Our next question comes from Gus Richard, from Northland Capital. Please proceed.
Yes, thanks for taking my question, and congratulations on the acquisition. It looks like it'd be good for you all. You know, looking at the data centers, you know, the power requirements are going up exponentially, and I'm just curious, you know, you have a high voltage capability, and it looks like the load in a data center is what would be generated by a power plant. You know, can you talk about the changes to Cupertino Electric's business and, you know, some of the capabilities you bring to the table for their data center customers?
I mean, I think we can provide the end-to-end solution, honestly. We work with our utility customers. When you walk it back, we know we do a lot of planning, system planning. We obviously can build renewables, which I think we've said before, technology backstops this transition. It backstops renewables under any, you know, whether it's Trump or Biden or whoever it is these days. I think the backstop will be the renewables that tech continues to want, and we have to figure—we can build the renewables, we can tell them, you know, basically where we believe is the best place to interconnect. We can go end-to-end across that solution, which is the biggest. You know, when you think about what's hindering growth in data center technology, where we're going, it's the electrification.
It's all your generation and renewable generation. So that base load is extremely important. It's who we are, and so I do believe that we can help the technology customers, as well as our utility customers, understand what each other's talking about and be that interface in between and provide that solution, that, you know, what we're talking about, that end-to-end solution.
Got it. And then my follow-up is, you know, this looks like a great acquisition, very accretive. You know, was the process competitive? Were there other people, you know, bidding on Cupertino Electric?
No. You know, this has been a long-standing conversation between the company and myself and our team, so we have a great deal of respect for Cupertino. We're very patient. The timing just, you know, at some point in time, and with all family business, seven-year-old company, it's difficult to, you know, from a family standpoint, I've been through it. So it's a decision that needs to be made, and it needs to be made in a process and take your time to do it. We're a company that we don't really go in these processes and things of that nature, nor do they. I will say this, the management team really wanted to put their people in the right spot with world-class that was like, very much like us.
And so they chose Quanta, and I think we certainly are extremely excited to have it, have—and we, you know, we value that. I mean, I think from our standpoint, this name, we owe it to the family, we owe it to the people here to make sure we perpetuate and provide opportunities for this team as well. So it just marries up nicely, much like Blattner, you know, a hundred-year-old company. If you draw it out and say: What are we looking for? We're looking for Cupertino, and we're looking for Blattner and management teams. They stay, they're all in on their people. It's not about money, it's not about them going home. It's about what we can do, and they're as excited as I am about what we can do. So, it'll be...
We'll have a lot of fun with it, and I think we're gonna really, really, do great things for our shareholders.
Got it. Thanks so much.
Our next question comes from Brent Thielman from D.A. Davidson. Please proceed.
Hey, thanks, congrats. It looks like a great transaction here. Duke, I just had a question on the $2.3-$2.4 billion range for 2025, maybe to what degree the current RPO at $1.9 billion gives you visibility into that? You know, what's the typical conversion of that backlog over time? How much do you still have to go out and sort of get to support that range?
Yeah, I'm not too concerned with the top line based on what we've seen on inbounds. I think that's, you know, certainly a conservative number, and we can—it's a matter of how quickly can we ramp craft where, you know, and also just to make sure that the projects that we see, the inbounds that we see go forward and, you know, the timing thereof. I still, we feel real comfortable as it stands today with kind of the outward look and what they've done in the past and double-digit plus type growth. So we're not, we're not too concerned with the macro market at this point.
Yeah, makes sense. And then, and Duke, I guess, bigger picture question, I mean, this, this acquisition gives you some exposure to sort of a subset of the construction market that, you know, hasn't been a huge emphasis for Quanta. I guess, historically, there's a pretty big TAM here, pretty fragmented field and low voltage. Do you, do you still view Quanta as a utility-focused company first? Do you envision something more balanced across these different end markets that Cupertino serves you over time? Just, just kind of bigger picture thoughts there in terms of how you- Quanta might look over time.
Yeah, good question. You know, we've always said craft is our nucleus, and anything around craft skilled labor that we're very comfortable with, that's where we're from. We understand it. So we, we have a, you know, a great deal of respect for, for craft, and I think this company fits right there. And yes, it does give us more verticals to grow off of, no question, different customer base. But the craft piece of it and how we, you know, tack on engineering, the synergies we can get with high voltage and, and what we can do together is certainly something that we see. And we, we like any area that is highly... The self-perform capability to 85%, 80%-85% is, is big for us.
What that does is it allows us to be certain, for the most part, on projects and bring them in on time, and we're not using a lot of subcontract and have issues. So I do think it does give us a bigger market, and I... We've said all along, it's a portfolio. You know, we continue to believe this portfolio de-risks the investor, and as we see great companies, great management teams, we'll continue to lean into them. It certainly from my standpoint that de-risk piece of it and that portfolio effect of it. You know, I know we're talking a lot about data centers as well, but the end markets of Cupertino are much bigger than data centers, much bigger.
So I just, you know, there'll be, we'll trade a little bit on data centers, we'll trade a little bit on this and that. I believe the company set with the utility backlog, with, you know, the electrification and craft skill of what's going on and onshoring. However you look at it, I really like the markets that we're in, and yes, utility is a big piece of it, but also, you know, all other customers as well.
Excellent. Appreciate the color. Thank you.
Our next question comes from Durgesh Chopra from Evercore ISI. Please proceed.
Hey, hey, team. Good morning. Thank, thanks for giving me time here. Just one quick one. All my other questions have been answered. Jayshree, just on the debt to EBITDA going to above 2x and then trending lower, is that all financing-related debt, or is it - is there actual debt on Cupertino's books that you'll be, you'll be taking on? And if you could quantify that. Thank you.
This is leverage at the corporate level, so I'm including all of our existing financing, as well as any potential new financing we'll be taking on as we're thinking through various financing options, given that we've got a note due in October. We've taken a little bit of a short-term loan here. All of that is baked in, as well as our free cash flow expectations to give you a view of leverage profile for the end of the year, about a little under two times.
Got it. Is there any debt at Cupertino?
No.
That you'll be taking? Okay, no. Thank you.
Our next question comes from Brian Brophy from Stifel. Please proceed.
... Yeah, thanks. Good morning, everybody. Congrats on the deal. Just quick question on CEI's geographic exposure. It appears a lot of it's in California, West Coast. Is that correct? And then can you talk about opportunities for geographic expansion here?
No, I mean, it, it's to the west, you know, but, but look, they, they've moved across North America. They, they were able to scale, they're able to move. It's really, you know, where it has been California centric in the past, but we were certainly moving across the country, facilities in Wisconsin, all, all across. So I don't think that's the issue. It's really, where is the labor at and where is the, you know, the base of labor? Where we, we do have considerable East Coast operations. So I do think, you know, we'll be able to put craft in on, on the east and broaden the east out a bit. But, but in general, I, I think we'll be end-to-end in any state.
We'll have to think about really opportunities and where we can best serve the client, and that's how you have to look at it. I'm not worried about what state we're in, to be honest. I'm worried about the client and what they're asking us to do and make sure we can deliver.
Okay. And then free cash flow conversion profile of CEI, what is... Can you give us a sense for what it is relative to legacy Quanta?
Yeah, it's accretive to our free cash flow profile. So just maybe a good way to think about it is their working capital profile is a little under 1% of revenue. Their CapEx, as a percentage of revenue, is around 0.5%. So overall, it is accretive to our free cash flow. Now, we, you know, we're still going to range between 45%-55% for Quanta, but this just gives us more confidence that we'll be at the higher end of that free cash flow conversion rate.
Appreciate it. I'll pass it on. Thank you.
Our next question comes from Piyush Avasthi from Citi. Please proceed.
Good morning, everyone, and congrats on the deal. Duke, post the acquisition, I think you highlighted that you can provide both low and high voltage electrical system solutions now. Like, can you elaborate if there is anyone else that has similar offerings? Who would your competitors be when you go out bidding for new projects?
Yeah, I don't know. You know, from our standpoint, I don't really look at it, who our competitor is. I don't know who does that in a significant way. I do think for us, we don't see the end-to-end solution that we can provide at scale anywhere. So I think that's the key to this. And I'm not saying people can't do it, and I'm sure they can, but can they scale it? Can they do what we can do? Do they have world-class people that can deliver, that trusted on both sides of this? And I think that's the key to this, is that solution that we can provide. You know, our transformer manufacturing matters here. A lot of different things matter.
And I think when we put it all together, the backstop of technology and their demands on electrification and the generation across the country is large. Us being in the epicenter of that and able to deliver what they're asking is something that, I think it's a solution. It's no longer something that each one of us are bidding on separate pieces of projects. We're actually providing a solution. So it's what we said we were as a company and what we'll continue to do, going forward.
Helpful. And one for Jayshree. Maybe, maybe some incremental color on the deal structure. Why was, why was it not straight cash and debt? And you know, quickly, like, what, what are you assuming for cost of debt to get to that $0.40-$0.50 EPS?
Yeah, as always, as we think about how we want to structure our, our transactions, we want to make sure that we're aligned with our management team, so we do believe some form of equity is important to do so. But given our liquidity profile and the strength of our balance sheet, we were able to lean into this acquisition with our existing cash flow profile and balance sheet. Going forward in 25, I've given you an accretion view that is inclusive of what we believe the incremental interest expense will be. You can back into that, but it's around $60 million.
But that takes into consideration, as I said, the various debt financing options that we're thinking through, and we'll have finalized by the end of the year.
Got it.
Yeah, I will say-
Go ahead. Sorry.
I'll say that, you know, the deal from our standpoint, the free cash and the way we think about is accretive the deal from a return standpoint. Margins may be a little bit less than on the high voltage side, but the value of your returns and how the free cash comes in, things like that, the company is certainly changing how we think about that. And so our profiles will look a little different, and we need a little time to make sure that we give you good guidance on what free cash looks like.
Got it. I appreciate all the color, guys. Thank you.
Our next question comes from Neil Mehta from Goldman Sachs. Please proceed.
Yeah, thank you so much, and congratulations, Duke, Jayshree, and team. The first question is just sort of, as we think about this acquisition in the context of your broader M&A strategy, is this representative of how we should think about potentially future deals as well? More private-oriented, tuck-in type of transactions that bolt onto your existing capabilities as opposed to transformative large public?
Yeah, this company, you know, we said it, it's a platform for us, but lots of verticals here, it'll, it'll be a platform. You know, I do believe we can grow significantly off this platform with synergy. So this, this is a platform build, much like Blattner was. I've said it publicly, I'll say it again, I'm not a fan of public-to-public transactions. I much prefer larger. We're really evaluating management teams and, and, and what, what we see. And so, it's not really the numbers as much as it is the team, and, and I feel strongly about what, what we've acquired and the team we've acquired. It's all a people business. It's not anything other than that.
And so we know from our standpoint, when we buy great companies, long-standing history, they've weathered time, they've weathered markets, they're gritty, they understand how to get out and find work, make money, do the things and really client-centric. So we've said it, I just don't see us doing a public-to-public transaction. We'll stick to these type transactions to move forward. There is, you know, we've seen more and more larger family businesses move towards acquisitions or selling. So as that happens, I can't give you timing, I can't give you cadence. I don't know. It's a six-year kind of thing. And so I... But we've been part of the company for decades.
In general, it just, it'll fall how it falls, but when we see great companies and great management teams, we lean in.
Yeah. Thanks, Duke. And maybe you could just talk about your macro views on data centers. We've spent, we've spent some time talking about this in the past, but it felt like load growth was going to be really robust, independent of data centers, and now it's going to be really, really strong with data centers, especially in certain regions. So as you talk to, to your utility customers, how are they thinking about managing the, the risk that comes from, from the data center build-out? And do you think we can do this? Do you think we, you know, that power is ultimately going to be a constraint on the data center build-out, or that there's enough power to be, to be, to satiate what's going to be very, very strong demand?
Look, I, I think, I think it's if we're half right, it's still extremely robust. So I, I would just say that. And if it's everything they're saying, then it's, you know, beyond, you can comprehend. So I, I think in general, let's just say it's half right, of what's coming. And yes, I mean, we can get the-- we can get generation. We need transmission, we need a lot of different things to happen, but it's doable. What, what I, The concern is at the utility level is, is customer cost and how do you get the rate base, and how do you make sure that the capital spent is paid for by, the end user and not the customer?
So that, that's what the struggle is really, is the affordability and making sure that, you know, you pay your way as you want the capital. And I think the utilities, if you're seeing, rates in Ohio and other places where they're starting to figure this out and work together, if technology and utilities work together, we can certainly find solutions, and we have for many, many years and decades. So these solutions are there. What I like about it is I do believe that there is an end market. There—AI, all the things that are driving data center grid are real. People will pay for it.
You know, we're certainly seeing it show up in our businesses, so I know it's real, and I really feel like that it's only getting stronger and the demand will grow.
Thank you, Duke.
This concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the floor back over to management for closing comments.
Yeah. But, you know, first, I want to say that our guys and men and women in Houston working on the storm, they've been out there 10, 12 days. They've done a hell of a job. I'm real proud of that, that's going on there and what we've done for the city and to bring lights back on. So I commend them and thank them for what they're doing out there and staying safe. I want to thank CEI and its employees, and welcome to the Quanta family, and thank you for participating in the call today.
This concludes today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.