Saw Mill Capital has acquired Climate Pros, a provider of refrigeration maintenance, repair, remodel and installation services to grocery retailers and other cold-chain customers primarily in North America.
Climate Pros has been acquisitive recently. In 2016 the company acquired RGR Refrigeration based in Westland, MI and in 2017 acquired Commercial Refrigeration Specialists based in Irwindale, CA. Today, customers of the company include Walmart, Whole Foods, Safeway, Costco, Aldi, Albertsons, AbbVie, Pfizer, Roundy’s and others. Climate Pros has 390 employees and facilities in Glendale Heights, IL (headquarters); Pewaukee, WI; Irwindale, Stockton and Hayward, CA; Tamarac, FL; and Westland, MI. The company was founded in 2006 (www.climateprosinc.com).
“We have had the pleasure of developing a deep relationship with Saw Mill over the past four years and are excited to partner with the firm as we enter the next stage in our growth,” said Todd Ernest, CEO of Climate Pros. “We see tremendous opportunity in our market and believe Saw Mill will provide us with strategic support and capital to execute on our growth plans.”
“Todd Ernest is a dynamic entrepreneur, who has grown up in the industry and has never been satisfied by the status quo. He saw an opportunity to build a better platform and has executed on his vision to become one of the leading refrigeration services companies in the US,” said Tim Nelson, a Partner at Saw Mill Capital. “We look forward to our new partnership and to continue growing the business as we enter new geographies and seek to acquire add-on service providers.”
Saw Mill Capital invests in North American-based manufacturing, industrial and commercial service, and specialty distribution businesses with $25 million to $200 million of revenues and $5 million to $25 million of EBITDA. The firm was founded in 1997 and is headquartered north of New York City in Briarcliff Manor, NY (www.sawmillcapital.com).
This buy of Climate Pros is the third investment in Saw Mill’s most recent private equity fund, Saw Mill Capital Partners II LP, which closed in July 2017 with an above target $340 million in capital commitments.
© 2018 Private Equity Professional | January 5, 2018
