Palm Beach Capital has made an investment in Mears Transportation, Central Florida’s oldest transportation company and one of the largest private transportation companies in the country. The investment in Mears was made through Palm Beach Capital’s fourth fund and TriArtisan Capital Advisors was a co-investor.
Mears is a transportation company with primary operations serving Central Florida residents and tourist destinations. The company was founded in 1939 by Paul Mears, Sr. with the purchase of three taxicabs and today the company owns and operates nearly 1200 vehicles including 251 motor coaches, 620 taxicabs, 260 luxury vehicles (sedans, limousines, SUVs, and vans) and 52 shuttle vans.
In addition to serving Orlando International Airport as the primary shuttle concessionaire and largest taxi provider, Mears also operates numerous bus and shuttle services for central Florida’s largest resorts, theme parks and tour operators. Mears also offers luxury car service in any city or airport in the world, including Las Vegas, New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, Dallas and Atlanta. The company is headquartered in Orlando (www.mears.com).
“With the changing landscape in the transportation business, we are fortunate to have a partnership with Palm Beach Capital that will allow us to grow our business,” said Chuck Carns, CEO of Mears Transportation. “With Palm Beach Capital’s financial strength and expertise, we look forward to growing our long and successful track record into markets outside Central Florida.”
Palm Beach Capital makes control and non-control investments of $5 million to $50 million in companies with enterprise values from $20 million to $200 million and that have at least $20 million of revenue and a minimum EBITDA of $5 million. Sectors of interest include business services, business process outsourcing, transportation and logistics, and healthcare. Since founding in 2001, Palm Beach Capital has made investments in 45 companies and has approximately $325 million in total assets under management. The firm has offices in West Palm Beach and Tampa (www.pbcap.com).
“We are excited to partner with the entire Mears management team and we look forward to providing the necessary support for the company to expand its service and technology platforms to expertly manage its customers’ transportation challenges,” said Shaun McGruder, Palm Beach Capital’s Founding Partner. “Mears has the proven capabilities to support its large-scale customer base while identifying and managing the new challenges in the transportation industry. We look forward to partnering with their well-established and proven team.”
TriArtisan, which co-invested in this transaction, invests in companies with EBITDA of $25 million to $300 million across multiple industries including consumer, retail, business and professional services, industrial, media and healthcare. The firm is based in New York (www.triartisan.com).
© 2018 Private Equity Professional | April 5, 2018
