Audax Sells Smart Care to Wind Point
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Audax Sells Smart Care to Wind Point

Wind Point's Zone Climate Services provides refrigeration and HVAC services to convenience stores, grocery stores, food manufacturers and restaurants

Smart Care provides commercial kitchen repair, maintenance services, and replacement parts to the foodservice industry

SOURCE: Smart Care Equipment Solutions

Audax Private Equity has sold Smart Care Equipment Solutions, a provider of commercial kitchen equipment maintenance services, to Zone Climate Services, a portfolio company of Wind Point Partners.

St. Paul, Minnesota-headquartered Smart Care provides commercial kitchen repair, maintenance services, and replacement parts to companies that are active in the commercial foodservice industry. The company, led by CEO Bill Emory, has 1,400 employees and completes more than 350,000 service events each year at more than 40,000 locations in all 50 states.

Smart Care began when Audax acquired the equipment care business of Ecolab in November 2017 and rebranded the company under the Smart Care brand in December 2017. During its ownership term, Smart Care closed 14 add-on acquisitions.

“We are proud of the business we built working with the Smart Care team,” said Don Bramley, a managing director at Audax. “From the start, we were aligned on how we would execute our buy and build strategy to help create a company that would deliver value for Smart Care’s customers, associates, communities, and investors. We wish Bill Emory and the entire Smart Care organization continued success as they embark on their next chapter of growth.”

“My team and I feel very fortunate to have had Audax as a partner over the past four years,” said Mr. Emory. “They played a critical role in our success by providing unmatched operational expertise and deep business acumen where we needed them. In short, our success is a direct reflection of what Don and his team brought to Smart Care and they share equally in our success.”

Zone Climate Services, acquired by Wind Point in March 2021, is a provider of refrigeration and HVAC services to Midwest-based convenience stores, grocery stores, food manufacturers, warehouse facilities and restaurants.  Zone is led by CEO Henry Lees-Buckley and is headquartered near Chicago in Alsip, Illinois. Post-closing, Mr. Buckley will become CEO of the combined Zone and Smart Care businesses.

Audax invests in middle-market companies that have from $8 million to $50 million in EBITDA and enterprise values of $50 million to $400 million. Sectors of interest include business and consumer services; energy; healthcare; technology, media and telecom; and industrials including chemicals, infrastructure, and building materials. Audax, with offices in Boston, New York, and San Francisco, is currently investing out of its $3.5 billion, sixth private equity fund.

Chicago-based Wind Point invests from $50 million to $100 million in companies with EBITDA of at least $10 million. Industries of interest include business services, consumer products and industrial products. Wind Point is currently investing out of Wind Point Partners IX LP which closed in February 2021 with $1.5 billion of capital. Fund IX is the largest fund ever raised by Wind Point.

Harris Williams was the financial advisor to Audax Private Equity on this transaction.

© 2022 Private Equity Professional | March 15, 2022

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