Kainos Sees Green in Super-Sod Buy

Kainos Capital has acquired Super-Sod from Heartwood Partners, taking ownership of the vertically integrated turfgrass and landscaping products supplier serving the southern United States. Partners Capital co-invested in the transaction as lead co-investor.

Super-Sod grows and distributes sod, grass seed, organic compost, and other lawn care products to professional landscapers and residential customers across the Southeast. The company operates through an omnichannel model spanning its own ten sod farms, 25 retail store locations, and an e-commerce platform.

Super-Sod’s product line includes numerous sod varieties such as TifTuf Bermuda, Zeon Zoysia, and TifBlair Centipede, along with proprietary Soil3 organic humus compost delivered in a cubic-yard BigYellowBag. The company also sells grass seed, fertilizers, pest control products, and lawn maintenance supplies through its retail stores and online channel.

Patten Seed Company, which does business as Super-Sod, traces its roots to a general store opened by Robert Patten in Georgia in the 1890s. The Super-Sod brand was established in 1980. Today, Super-Sod is led by CEO Ben Copeland and is headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina.

“Heartwood Partners has been a great partner to Super-Sod throughout this journey,” said Mr. Copeland. “They believed in our team and invested their resources and support behind us. Together, we built a much larger, technologically advanced, and geographically diverse organization, and I’m proud of what we accomplished together. We are excited for our next stage of growth with Kainos Capital who has a focus on helping businesses like ours scale aggressively through organic initiatives as well as complementary acquisitions.”

Heartwood invested in Patten Seed in September 2020 through its third fund. During the hold period, Super-Sod completed five add-on acquisitions across Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, and Texas, including Alabama-based Frog Pond Turf in 2021; Tennessee-based Mid Tenn Turf and Georgia-based All Green Outdoor Center in 2023; and Texas-based Tri-Tex Grass in 2025. In addition to this M&A activity, Heartwood also invested in and advanced the company’s automation, production capacity, enterprise software, digital marketing, and e-commerce systems during its ownership.

“This successful exit reflects the strength of Super-Sod’s brand, the dedication of its employees, and the management team’s focused execution of its long-term strategic plan,” said James Sidwa, managing partner of Heartwood. “We are grateful for the opportunity to support the company during this important chapter of its growth.”

“Ben and his management team have built a differentiated platform in the landscaping solutions industry,” said Jeff Moredock, a partner at Kainos. “Given our experience creating strategic value with similar business models, we believe Kainos, as a result of our industry relationships, operating capabilities and capital base, is well-suited to help management quickly expand Super-Sod’s position through attractive add-on acquisitions, product innovation, geographic expansion, and new retail distribution.”

Dallas-headquartered Kainos Capital invests from $50 million to $200 million of equity in family- and founder-owned food and consumer products and services businesses in North America that have EBITDA ranging from $10 million to $80 million. In February 2023, Kainos closed Kainos Capital Partners III LP with more than $1 billion in capital commitments. Fund III is the largest fund the firm has ever raised. The firm’s second fund closed in November 2016 at its hard cap of $895 million.

“We are thrilled to have partnered with the team at Super-Sod to expand the company’s business model across the Southern U.S. through organic growth and add-on acquisitions,” said Andrea Nelson, a managing director at Heartwood. “We are proud of the company’s market leadership and innovation and look forward to its continued success with Kainos Capital as its next partner.”

Heartwood Partners invests in U.S.-based companies with revenues between $20 million and $250 million and EBITDA between $3 million and $30 million. Sectors of interest include food, agriculture, specialty chemicals, niche manufacturing, packaging, and industrial and consumer services. Heartwood is currently investing through Heartwood Partners Fund IV LP. The Norwalk, Connecticut-based firm was founded as Capital Partners in 1982 and rebranded as Heartwood Partners in September 2020.

Founded in 2001 and headquartered in London, Partners Capital has more than $75 billion in assets under management and more than 400 employees across 10 global offices.

In February 2026, Partners Capital closed Merlin Co-Investment Fund IV (Merlin IV) with more than $1 billion in commitments. Merlin IV makes co-investments of $25 million to more than $100 million per transaction in lower-middle-market and middle-market private equity-sponsored transactions across a range of transaction types. Since Partners Capital launched its Merlin co-investment strategy in 2019, the platform has invested more than $2 billion across more than 60 transactions. The firm’s co-investment team is led by Partner Adam Spence and Managing Director Jennifer Fox Bensimon.

“Super-Sod has built a trusted brand in the landscaping solutions industry by delivering a seamless customer experience for both landscapers and homeowners,” said Peter Schnuck, a vice president at Kainos. “We are excited to partner with Super-Sod’s exceptional management team as they expand the company’s product and service offerings to meet more of its customers’ needs.”

Baird was the financial advisor to Kainos, and Harris Williams advised Super-Sod and Heartwood.