HEPACO, a portfolio company of Gryphon Investors, has acquired Evergreen AES Environmental Services.
Evergreen AES is an environmental contractor specializing in emergency response, environmental remediation, industrial services, and waste management. The company’s customers include transportation companies, industrial facilities, hospitals, manufacturing and emergency response managers. Evergreen AES operates seven offices providing coverage in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee and West Virginia.
Evergreen AES, led by CEO Jennifer Lanham, was founded in 1986 by Dr. Jerry McCandless and is headquartered near Louisville in Shelbyville, Kentucky. Ms. Lanham will join the HEPACO team as a vice president. HEPACO acquired Evergreen AES from Dr. McCandless, his wife Kendrick McCandless, and Ms. Lanham. The three sellers will roll a portion of their sale proceeds into HEPACO and hold a minority position.
HEPACO is a provider of emergency response, environmental remediation, maritime services, wastewater treatment, and other industrial services across a range of end markets including rail, oil & gas, transportation, power & utility, and manufacturing. The company provides services on both an emergency response and planned basis and in 2019 completed more than 27,000 projects.
HEPACO has more than 40 locations in the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Northeast, and Southeast United States and offers a three-hour or less response time within its footprint and on a national basis through its managed network of third-party emergency response vendors. The company, led by CEO Ken Smith, was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Charlotte.
The combination of HEPACO and Evergreen AES will have nearly 850 employees and a footprint of 49 locations across the Mid-Atlantic, Mid-Central, Midwest, Northeast and Southeast regions.
“We are thrilled to complete the strategic acquisition of Evergreen AES, an opportunity which adds both valuable talent and resources to a strong HEPACO team and sets a course for our continued growth in 2020,” said Phil Petrocelli, a Gryphon operating partner.
San Francisco-based Gryphon makes leveraged acquisitions and growth investments in middle-market companies. The firm invests from $100 million to $300 million of capital in companies with enterprise values ranging from $100 million to $500 million. Sectors of interest include business services, consumer products and services, healthcare, industrial growth, and software. In July 2019 the firm held a final closing of Gryphon Partners V LP at its hard cap of $2.1 billion. The new fund was oversubscribed and exceeded its original target of $1.5 billion.
Gryphon Investors acquired HEPACO in August 2016.
