Primeritus Financial Services, a portfolio company of Kinderhook Industries, has acquired Global Investigative Services.
Global Investigative Services (GIS) is a provider of vehicle skip tracing services, heavy equipment recovery and investigative services to financial services companies. The company was founded in 1997 by partners Greg Hill and Danny Tolbert and is headquartered near Dallas in Rockwall, TX (www.gis-investigations.com).
“GIS has established itself as a strong player in the skip tracing and heavy equipment recovery arena and we look forward to working with their team to continue to drive innovation, compliance, efficiency as well as best in class service for Primeritus’ and GIS’ clients,” said Chris McGinness, SVP of Operations for Primeritus. “Primeritus has made a concerted effort to grow in the credit union space and the acquisition of GIS will compliment this side of our business nicely.”
In February 2012, Kinderhook formed Primeritus Financial Services in partnership with three automotive finance executives – Chuck Tapp, Phil Hanks and Cam Hitchcock – and acquired 
the assets of ASR Nationwide, a provider of collateral recovery services to financial institutions. The purchase of GIS is the sixth add-on acquisition completed by Primeritus under Kinderhook ownership. The five earlier acquisitions were Roquemore (January 2016), Repo Remarketing (February 2014), Renovo Services (October 2012), M. Davis Company (June 2012), and the platform acquisition of ASR Nationwide (February 2012). Today, Primeritus Financial Services is a national provider of repossession management, remarketing, title services and skip tracing services to the auto finance industry. The company is based in Nashville (www.primeritus.com).
“We are delighted to join Primeritus’ team, which is the industry leader in recovery, skip tracing and remarketing services,” said Greg Hill, President of GIS.
Financing for this transaction was provided by Twin Brook Capital Partners, the middle market direct lending subsidiary of Angelo, Gordon & Co. (www.twincp.com).
Kinderhook makes control investments in companies with transaction values of $25 million to $150 million in which the firm can achieve financial, operational and growth improvements. The firm makes investments in non-core divisions of public companies, management buyouts of entrepreneurial-owned businesses, troubled situations, and existing small capitalization companies lacking institutional support. Kinderhook was founded in 2003 and is based in New York (www.kinderhook.com).
© 2017 Private Equity Professional | February 23, 2017
