Dwyer Group, a portfolio company of The Riverside Company, has acquired Service Brands International, one of the world’s largest franchising companies of trade service brands.
Service Brands International (SBI) is a franchisor of three residential and consumer services brands – Molly Maid, a residential cleaning service provider with 466 US franchise locations; Mr. Handyman, a provider of home repair and maintenance services through a network of 206 franchises; and ProTect Painters, a residential painting services provider with 67 franchises. Molly Maid, Mr. Handyman and ProTect Painters had a combined $283 million in system-wide sales last year. SBI was founded in 1984 by David McKinnon and is headquartered in Ann Arbor, MI (www.franchise.servicebrands.com).
The Dwyer Group, acquired by Riverside in August 2014, is the owner of eight service-based franchise organizations: Aire Serv, Glass Doctor, Mr. Appliance, Mr. Electric, Mr. Rooter, Rainbow International, The Grounds Guys and Five Star Painting. These brands collectively have more than 1,700 franchises in ten countries. The Dwyer Group was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Waco, TX (www.dwyergroup.com).
The acquisition of SBI will add more than 2,100 franchisees to Dwyer and will expand the Dwyer brand into maid services and handyman services, two industries that support the same end-user customer base of existing Dwyer brands. “SBI has outstanding concepts and a significant number of franchisees,” said Riverside Partner Sarah Roth. “These additions add scale and open very appealing cross-selling opportunities for all franchisees. This addition marks a strong step forward for Dwyer.”
Working with Ms. Roth on the transaction for Riverside were Principal Meranee Phing, Senior Associate Jason Fulton, Senior Associate Alex Treece, Associate Chase Eckert and Operating Partner Tom Anderson. Origination Principals Jim Butterfield and Jeremy Holland sourced the opportunity for Riverside. Partner Anne Hayes worked on financing the transaction for the firm.
The Riverside Company is a global private equity firm focused on investing in and acquiring growing businesses valued at up to $300 million (€200 million in Europe). Since its founding in 1988, Riverside has invested in more than 380 transactions. The firm’s international portfolio includes more than 70 companies. Riverside is headquartered in New York with additional offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and London (www.riversidecompany.com).
Financing for this transaction was provided by Madison Capital, GE, NXT Capital, Ares Capital and NewStar Financial.
© 2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 6-16-15
