SPS PoolCare Adds Pool Troopers, Closes its Largest Acquisition to Date

SPS PoolCare has acquired Pool Troopers, combining the two largest swimming pool services providers in the United States and expanding SPS PoolCare’s operations across 19 markets in five states. SPS PoolCare is a portfolio company of Storr Group, and Pool Troopers is a portfolio company of Shoreline Equity Partners. Post-closing, Shoreline will maintain a minority stake in the combined business in partnership with Storr Group.

Pool Troopers provides residential and commercial pool cleaning, chemical service, routine maintenance, equipment repair, leak detection, and related services across several Sun Belt states, including Florida, Texas, Arizona, Georgia, and South Carolina. Customers of the company include homeowners, apartment communities, hotels, and other commercial properties requiring ongoing pool upkeep. The founding of Pool Troopers traces back to 1952, and the company is headquartered in Tampa, Florida.

Shoreline acquired Pool Troopers in October 2020 and has closed more than 25 add-on acquisitions during its ownership term.

The acquisition of Pool Troopers is SPS PoolCare’s 191st acquisition since its founding in 2021 and its largest deal to date.

SPS PoolCare provides maintenance, cleaning, water quality testing and chemical balancing, equipment repair, and pool restoration services to residential and commercial customers. The platform serves homeowners and property managers across multiple Sun Belt states, including Texas, Florida, Arizona, and Nevada. SPS PoolCare, led by CEO and COO Lance Martin, was founded in 2021 by Fraser Ramseyer and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

“The combination of SPS PoolCare with Pool Troopers creates an industry powerhouse that will set new standards for pool care across America,” said Mr. Martin. “Pool Troopers has earned an outstanding reputation for quality service and customer satisfaction. Their values mirror our mission to make pool ownership a joy by putting customers first and treating employees as our greatest asset.”

“SPS PoolCare has a proven track record of successfully onboarding regional pool companies, and with our complementary geographic footprints, this partnership was a natural fit,” said AD Gonzalez, president and CFO of Pool Troopers. “As the #2 provider in the industry joining forces with #1, we saw a real opportunity to combine the best of both companies to take even better care of our customers and our employees.”

“Pool Troopers has always been defined by its people and its customers, and that will remain true in this next chapter,” said Mike Hand, managing partner at Shoreline Equity Partners. “Following many years of getting to know Storr Group and watching them thoughtfully invest in and methodically build a category-leading platform, we trust their stewardship and execution and are excited to partner with them.”

Shoreline Equity Partners invests up to $100 million per transaction in support of buyouts, recapitalizations, and corporate divestitures. Typical target companies will have enterprise values from $50 million to $350 million and EBITDA of $5 million to $25 million. Sectors of interest include specialized manufacturing, value-added distribution, and business and facility services. In January 2023, Shoreline held an oversubscribed, above-target, and hard-cap close of its second fund with $450 million of capital. The firm’s first fund closed in January 2020 with $300 million of capital. Shoreline was founded in March 2019 and is based near Jacksonville in Neptune Beach, Florida.

Storr Group is an operationally focused private equity firm that invests in lower-middle-market services businesses. The firm was founded in 2021 by Mr. Ramseyer and has offices in West Palm Beach, New York City, and Austin.

William Blair was the advisor to SPS PoolCare. Balance Point Capital provided debt financing to support the acquisition.