GTCR has acquired Senske Services, a provider of residential lawn care, pest control, and other home services.
Senske serves over 80,000 residential and commercial customers across 16 branches in Washington, Utah, Idaho, and Colorado. The Senske family of brands includes Senske Pest Control, Senske Lawn and Tree Care, Senske Grounds Maintenance, Fit Turf, and Christmas Décor by Senske.
Senske was founded in 1947 and is headquartered in Kennewick, Washington. Chris Senske, the owner of Senske who has led the business since 1974, will remain a substantial shareholder of the company and remain on the board of directors in partnership with GTCR.
GTCR will use Senske Services as a platform for a broader national expansion in the residential lawn care and pest control sectors and GTCR has committed additional capital to fund acquisitions and organic growth opportunities. GTCR has partnered on this transaction with Casey Taylor and Nathan Hurst who will serve as co-CEOs of Senske Services. Messrs. Taylor and Hurst are former CEOs of the Americas region for route-based commercial water filtration business Waterlogic. At Waterlogic, the two executives completed over 60 add-acquisitions over a five-year period.
“We are excited to partner with GTCR and look forward to continuing to provide Senske’s customers with exceptional service,” said Messrs. Taylor and Hurst in a released statement. “GTCR brings significant resources and experience in building companies and together we expect to grow Senske into a leading national lawn care and pest control company.”
“Through their exceptional customer service and commitment to integrity, Senske has grown to become one of the leading lawn care and pest control companies in the US,” said David Donnini, a managing director and head of business & consumer services at GTCR. “We are thrilled to be partnering with Casey and Nate, as well as Senske, at this exciting time in the company’s evolution.”
Since its founding in 1980, Chicago-based GTCR has invested more than $24 billion in over 270 companies. Sectors of interest include business services; technology, media & telecommunications; healthcare, and financial services & technology. In November 2020, GTCR closed its thirteenth fund, GTCR Fund XIII LP, with $7.5 billion of limited partner capital commitments. The new fund, raised in just five months, is the largest investment fund in GTCR’s history. GTCR is based in Chicago with offices in New York and West Palm Beach.
“Chris and the Senske team have built a tremendous business that is well-positioned to serve as the platform for further investment in a growing sector,” said Tom Ehrhart, a principal at GTCR. “The entire Senske organization should be proud of the business they have built. We look forward to Casey and Nate working with the company and its employees to continue providing exceptional customer service while expanding into new geographies and service offerings nationally.”
San Diego-based LR Tullius was the financial advisor to Senske Services and New York City-based Solomon Partners was the financial advisor to GTCR.
© 2022 Private Equity Professional | December 20, 2022
Riata Capital Group has made an investment in Salon Republic, an operator of salon studio suites and a provider of support services to beauty care professionals.
“We have been impressed by the differentiated platform that Eric Taylor and the Salon Republic team have built, developing the business into one of the leading providers of salon suites and value-added services to BCPs in their markets,” said Barron Fletcher, a managing partner of Riata. “As innovators in their space since 2000, Eric and his team have capitalized on strong demand from BCPs for the salon-suite model and consistently demonstrated their commitment to helping BCPs grow their business outside traditional salon formats.”
“We are excited to partner with such a well-positioned and well-managed platform,” said Jeff Fronterhouse, a managing partner of Riata. “We believe Eric and the Salon Republic leadership team have built an impressive business with a differentiated service offering and a strong economic model. Salon Republic locations are designed to meet the strong secular demand from BCPs seeking the independence, autonomy, and economic advantages of having their own business in upscale environments with value-added services offerings and stimulating overall beauty care ecosystems. We expect to continue to deploy additional capital in the platform to support the company’s continued organic expansion along with pursuing strategic add-on acquisitions.”
Novvia Group, a portfolio company of Kelso & Company, has acquired Rahway Steel Drum Company.
Kelso’s investment in Novvia begins with the December 2020 buy of Inmark Packaging from Quad-C Management. Several add-on acquisitions followed including St. Louis-based C.L. Smith (May 2021); California-based Silver Spur (May 2021); and Oklahoma-based Container Supply (June 2021). In October 2021, Kelso formed Novvia to consolidate these four investments and continued its add-on acquisition program with the acquisitions of Illinois-based Fox Valley Containers (October 2021); the Shanghai operations of Acepac International (November 2021); California-based Rhino Container (December 2021); the Ontario-based container distribution division of Andicor Specialty Chemicals (February 2022); Georgia-based Southern Container (April 2022); Florida-based Duval Container (July 2022); California-based Rios Containers (October 2022); and California-based Auberst (November 2022).
New York City-based 
Forged Solutions Group, a portfolio company of Arlington Capital Partners, has acquired Continental Forge.
“We are eager to welcome Continental Forge to the FSG platform,” said Peter Manos, a managing partner at Arlington Capital. “The company has many long-standing customer relationships and has exhibited best-in-class operational performance.”
Chevy Chase, Maryland-based 
American Pacific Group has closed its second fund, American Pacific Group Fund II LP, at an oversubscribed hard cap of $700 million.
“We appreciate the confidence that our partners have placed in us, and we are excited to get to work for them,” said Mr. Preston. With the closing of Fund II, American Pacific now has $1.2 billion of capital under management.
“We are grateful to our partners for their support, enthusiasm, and trust,” said Nick Wall, a managing director and chief operating officer at American Pacific.
VSS Capital Partners (VSS) has held a hard cap close of VSS Structured Capital Fund IV LP (Fund SC IV) with $530 million of capital.
“We are pleased to have closed Fund SC IV at its hard cap, with the opportunity to build on VSS’s legacy of top-quartile structured capital funds,” said Lacey Mehran, a managing director and head of investor relations at VSS. “The interest we’ve seen from investors reflects our proven ability to consistently generate attractive risk-adjusted returns across economic cycles by providing a hybrid solution to companies seeking a capital partner to facilitate their next stage of growth.”
“The current inflationary and recession-prone market environment bodes particularly well for structured capital funds, given the dilutive nature of many equity-only solutions that become less attractive in recessionary environments,” said Jeffrey Stevenson, a managing partner of VSS. “Coupled with our differentiated sector focus, decades of experience, and strong industry relationships, we are confident about the opportunities that lay ahead to deploy capital for this fund.”
CenterOak Partners has sold Wetzel’s Pretzels, the second largest US franchisor and owner of quick service restaurants operating in the soft pretzel category, to MTY Franchising USA, a subsidiary of publicly traded MTY Food Group, for $207 million. CenterOak acquired Wetzel’s in 2016 from Levine Leichtman Capital Partners.
“We are pleased to see the successful culmination of our investment in Wetzel’s,” said Randall Fojtasek, CEO and co-managing partner of CenterOak. “During the investment period, we accelerated the company’s growth by adding new real estate formats, product offerings, and services to attract additional consumers to the concept. We look forward to the continued success of the Wetzel’s brand under new ownership.”
Dallas-headquartered 
Montreal-headquartered 
Pfingsten Partners has sold Quality Valve, a distributor of OEM valve replacement and repair parts, to The Stephens Group.
“Quality Valve surpassed all expectations with a can-do attitude and customer-centric approach,” said Scott Finegan, a senior managing director at Pfingsten. “We were proud to support the company in deepening its inventory and operational footprint, strengthening its management team, and entering pump accessories via the strategic acquisition of Griffco Valve.”
Chicago-based 
Little Rock, Arkansas-based 
Second Nature Brands, a portfolio company of CapVest Partners, has acquired Brownie Brittle from Encore Consumer Capital.
“We have ambitious plans to become a US leader in snacks and treats and the acquisition of Brownie Brittle is an exciting step on this journey, which expands our presence into baking and unlocks a new growth stream for us,” said Mr. Mehren. “It also marks our first acquisition since being acquired by our majority investor CapVest, showing how with their support we intend to grow and develop Second Nature Brands through continued investment in the brand, channel and category expansion, as well as continued focus on product quality.”
Sentinel Capital Partners has held the simultaneous final closings of Sentinel Capital Partners VII LP (Sentinel VII) at $4.3 billion and Sentinel Junior Capital II LP at $835 million giving the firm a total of $5.2 billion of new capital.
“We are delighted to finalize another successful fundraise with strong endorsements of our strategy from existing investors and select new global limited partners,” said David Lobel, a co-founder and managing partner of Sentinel. “We are incredibly pleased with the support we have received from an outstanding group of limited partners during an extremely challenging period for investors. Strong investor demand resulted in Sentinel VII securing commitments above its hard cap.”
Vance Street Capital has sold International Aerospace Coatings and Eirtech Aviation Services (together IAC Group) to Tiger Infrastructure Partners.
“We are proud to have played a role in the impressive growth trajectory these businesses have experienced under our ownership,” said Brian Martin, a managing partner at Vance Street. “We want to thank the entire management team for their hard work and the significant role they played in transforming the company into the industry leader it is today.”
Z Capital Partners has acquired Universal Marine Medical Supply International, a provider of pharmaceutical and medical services to the maritime industry serving both commercial and cruise end markets.
Protos Security, a portfolio company of Southfield Capital, has completed the add-on acquisitions of Blue Star Security, ControlByNet, and MG Security Services.
“The strategic acquisition of Blue Star marks the third acquisition for Protos in 2022,” said Brandon Pinderhughes, a principal at Southfield Capital. “As Protos continues to grow through both organic and acquisition channels, we will continue to expand our North American footprint while providing value to the customers and communities we serve.”
“We are honored and grateful for the close partnership formed with our long-term investors, and humbled by their continued support of our organization,” said Orlando Bravo, a founder and managing partner at Thoma Bravo. “This fundraise will enable us to further our strategy of collaborating with management teams to build leading software companies. Having invested in more than 400 companies, we have seen firsthand how our partnership with management teams can turn great innovators into great companies, yielding fantastic results.”
“We are energized by our investors’ strong support of the largest fundraise in Thoma Bravo’s history, and of the largest tech fund ever raised, all against the backdrop of a challenging economic and geopolitical environment,” said Jennifer James, a managing director, chief operating officer and the head of investor relations and marketing at Thoma Bravo. “We thank our investors for their continued confidence in Thoma Bravo.”
Mill Point Capital has acquired sister companies Seviroli Foods, a manufacturer of frozen pasta, and Vertullo Imports.
New York City-based 
SK Capital Partners and Edgewater Capital Partners have formed Luxium Solutions to acquire the scintillation and photonic crystals business of publicly traded Saint-Gobain for $214 million.
“We are excited to enter Luxium’s next period of growth in partnership with SK Capital, Mike Cahill, and the whole Luxium team. We are confident in the differentiated and mission-critical technology that Luxium brings to the market, the stewardship of a qualified management team, and the experience that Edgewater and SK Capital bring to the Company,” said Ryan Meany, a managing partner at Edgewater.
“We believe Luxium’s leading scintillation technologies and unique ability to solve problems with applied material sciences, combined with a strong existing base of talent will transform the company into an independent leader in the industry that acts as a true value-add partner for the various sectors it serves,” said Mario Toukan, a managing director at SK Capital.
Publicly traded 
Lincolnshire Management has acquired Whitewater Brands, a supplier and distributor of marketing products and light equipment to automotive collision shops and dealerships, from Rock Gate Partners and Peninsula Capital Partners.
“The Whitewater brands are well recognized in the collision repair community and their reputation positions them to be a promising platform for growth as a leader in a very large, broad, and highly fragmented market,” said T.J. Maloney, the chairman and CEO of Lincolnshire.
New York City-headquartered