On June 19, the investment bank Allegiance Capital Corp. won Energy Deal of the Year at the 4th annual New York Champions M&A Competition. The competition was directed by the Association for Corporate Growth’s (ACG) New York chapter, a press release said June 24.

Allegiance directed the sale of Otis Eastern Service Inc., a domestic pipeline contractor based in Wellsville, N.Y., to Arognaut Private Equity, based in Tulsa, Okla., the press release said.

The deal’s financial terms were not disclosed, the press release noted.

There were “hundreds of initial nominees” in the Champions M&A Competition, the press release said, noting that Allegiance’s winning deal ended up being one of 38 finalists.

“We are extremely proud and honored to receive the Energy Deal of the Year award for this transaction,” said David Mahmood, the chairman and founder of Allegiance.

“This was a very complicated deal with numerous challenges along the way, but our bankers did a great job of overcoming issues, identifying the perfect buyer, and getting the deal closed,” he added.

The deal was led by John Sloan, the vice chairman of Allegiance, the press release said.

Bill van Wagner, my partner during the transaction, and I are honored to receive this award. This was a challenging transaction that truly demonstrated the capabilities of Allegiance Capital to close a complex transaction and meet both the buyer’s and seller’s expectations. It was a privilege to serve the owners of Otis Eastern and to work with the great team at Argonaut Private Equity,” he said.

“We celebrate outstanding individuals, firms, and transactions that have helped drive America’s middle market," said Martin Okner, the president of ACG New York.

"In so doing, we also recognize middle-market private capital’s important contribution to our national well-being. The middle market accounts for over 43 million U.S. jobs and 33% of U.S. GDP,” he added.

Allegiance Capital Corp. is based in Dallas.