Kings III of America, a provider of emergency monitoring equipment and services for elevators and pools and a portfolio company of Rockbridge Growth Equity and Thayer Street Partners, has been sold to Arcline Investment Management.
Kings III provides turnkey emergency monitoring services for building owners and property managers including hardware, installation, monitoring and maintenance services for its on-site emergency phones.
Kings III’s state-of-the-art 24/7 emergency dispatch center is staffed with certified emergency responders that have higher certification levels than are often required in 911 emergency response centers. Kings III was founded in 1989 and is headquartered near Dallas in Coppell, Texas.
Rockbridge acquired Kings III in June 2017, and in August 2019 the company added on with the buy of ESRM Communications, a Florida-based competitor. During its five-year hold, the company also built out its management and inside sales team, expanded into new markets, and built out new marketing and distribution channels.
“Our journey with Rockbridge has been truly transformational, and Kings III is now well-positioned to leverage our excellent customer service reputation and take advantage of strong market demand,” said Dennis Mason, CEO of Kings III. “It has been a pleasure partnering with the Rockbridge team, and we thank them for their support as we enter this exciting new period.”
“We’re pleased with this terrific outcome, which is a result of executing on the value creation plan we developed with management at the time of our initial investment,” said Steve Linden, a partner of Rockbridge. “The company’s transformation under our five-year ownership is a testament to management’s impressive ability to execute an ambitious growth plan while maintaining an unwavering level of service quality and mission-critical support to its customers. We are confident Kings III is well-positioned for further expansion, and we wish them the best of luck in the future.”
Rockbridge invests in e-commerce and marketing services, financial services and fintech, tech-enabled products and services, and digital media. The Detroit-based firm was founded in 2007 by Brian Hermelin and Kevin Prokop, with the support of Dan Gilbert, the founder of Quicken Loans.
“Kings III demonstrates all of the traits that we look for in our portfolio companies in providing contractually recurring, non-discretionary safety solutions to a large installed base of critical infrastructure,” said Arcline in a released statement. “Kings III has an excellent reputation among customers and employees and is led by a strong, experienced management team that has enabled it to become a true market leader. The growth-oriented culture at Kings III will fit well within the Arcline portfolio, and we are excited to partner with the management team for the company’s next chapter of growth.”
Arcline makes control investments in companies that have from $10 million to $100 million of EBITDA and enterprise values of up to $1 billion. Sectors of interest include defense and aerospace; infrastructure services; industrial and medical technology; life sciences and specialty materials. Arcline was founded in September 2018 and has offices in San Francisco and New York.
Raymond James was the financial advisor to Rockbridge and Kings III, and Piper Sandler advised Arcline.
© 2022 Private Equity Professional | September 7, 2022
