Crane 1 Services, a portfolio company of L Squared Capital Partners, has acquired D&S Hoist and Crane.
D&S manufactures and supplies gears, wheels, motors, custom cranes and crane parts, and provides inspection, maintenance, repair and rebuild services. The company also manufactures below-the-hook lifting devices including lift spreader beams, vacuum lifters, and custom rotators.
D&S is headquartered near Pittsburgh in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania and was founded in 1998 by Del Celaschi and his son, Steve Celaschi, who will continue leading the company.
Crane 1 provides services and equipment for industrial and commercial users of new and refurbished overhead cranes and hoists. The company’s services include inspections, maintenance, repair, design and installation. Crane 1, led by President and CEO Thomas Boscher, was founded in January 2007 and is headquartered near Dayton in Miamisburg, Ohio.
“We are thrilled to add D&S to the Crane 1 family and proud to welcome all of our new team members. This asset purchase adds another strategic building block for Crane 1 as a leading, independent technical field service company focused on providing safe and exceptional solutions which lead to enhanced equipment uptime and reliability for our customers,” said Mr. Boscher. “The purchase also aligns well with our Crane 1 strategy of growing through highly selective acquisitions with companies that have excellent reputations in the overhead crane market while allowing us to expand our geographic service footprint.”
L Squared acquired Crane 1 from Pfingsten Partners in August 2021 and the buy of D&S is the company’s first add-on acquisition under L Squared ownership. During Pfingsten’s six-year ownership term, Crane 1 completed six add-on acquisitions including Ohio-based Crane Service & Inspections (January 2017), Texas-based Absolute Crane (July 2018), Michigan-based Mt. Clemens Crane & Service (September 2018), South Carolina-based Materials Handling Solutions (June 2019), the North Carolina-based service division of Piedmont Hoist and Crane (March 2020), and Wisconsin-based Overhead Material Handling (May 2021).
“D&S is a high-quality company and shares the key values we seek in partners as we expand our national footprint. They have deep customer relationships grounded in exceptional customer service, which is a strong foundation for us to grow long term in the greater Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania markets,” said Sean Barrette, a partner at L Squared. “We are excited to welcome Steve Celaschi and his team to the Crane 1 family and look forward to building our footprint in the region in the coming months and years.”
L Squared invests from $20 million to $100 million of equity in companies that have revenues of $10 million to $100 million and EBITDA of $3 million to $25 million. Sectors of interest include tech-enabled services and software, and industrial technology and services. L Squared was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Newport Beach, California.
In September 2020, L Squared closed its oversubscribed third fund, L Squared Capital Partners III LLC, with $505 million of capital.
© 2022 Private Equity Professional | March 1, 2022
