Rock Hill Capital Group has sold its portfolio company Alpha Technical Services (ATS) to Quala, a provider of bulk transportation container cleaning and a portfolio company of Advent International.
Alpha Technical Services, acquired by Rock Hill in February 2011, is an industrial and environmental services company that operates a full service state-of-the-art industrial cleaning facility specializing in difficult cleaning projects. The company’s services include container cleaning, tank and vessel cleaning, rail-truck transloading, hazardous waste management, blasting and liner removal, and site remediation.
The company also performs railcar inspections, repairs, and requalification services and has the capabilities to perform in-plant cleaning services at petrochemical facilities. ATS was founded in 2001 by the Waters Group and a group of key executives, led by CEO Michael Howerton. The company is based near Houston in Pasadena, TX (www.alphatechserv.com).
“We have enjoyed working alongside Mike Howerton and the ATS leadership team to expand ATS’s services during our investment and believe that the company is an industry leader in the capabilities they provide to their customers,” said Randall Hale, Founder and Managing Director of Rock Hill. “We believe Quala is a great partner to capitalize on ATS’s success and to expand its capabilities to additional locations and markets.”
Quala is the largest provider of tank cleaning, tank washing, testing, and repair services for portable liquid and dry bulk containers in the United States. The company was acquired by Advent International in August 2016 from Roark Capital Group. Quala is headquartered in Tampa (www.quala.us.com).
Rock Hill invests in small-to-lower middle market companies with enterprise values up to $75 million and EBITDA of $4 million to $10 million that are located in the South and Southeast regions of the US. Sectors of interest include industrial and energy services and value-added distribution. In January 2017, Rock Hill held a final close of Rock Hill Capital III LP with $151 million in capital commitments. The firm’s two earlier funds, Rock Hill Capital II LP, closed in 2013 with $88 million in commitments and Rock Hill Capital I LP, closed in 2008 with $49 million in commitments. Rock Hill was founded in 2007 and is based in Houston (www.rockhillcap.com).
SunTrust Robinson Humphrey (www.suntrustrh.com) was the financial advisor to ATS.
Quala was advised by Stifel, Nicolaus & Company (www.stifel.com) and financing was provided by PSP Investments Credit (www.investpsp.com), Carlyle Private Credit (www.carlyle.com), Antares Capital (www.antares.com) and Madison Capital Funding.
© 2017 Private Equity Professional | August 24, 2017
