Nautic Partners has made an equity investment in Response Team 1, a provider of property restoration and renovation services. The investment was made through Nautic Partners’ seventh fund.
Response Team 1 (RT1) offers three services: mitigation, structural restoration, and multifamily renovation. RT1’s mitigation services involve “first responders” arriving at a single-family home or a multifamily/commercial property immediately after water, fire, or storm damage has occurred, in order to pump out water; dry and decontaminate the property; remove smoke and soot; and relocate household items for storage and cleaning. Structural restoration follows mitigation work and involves stabilizing the 
property’s structure; cleaning and repairing plumbing, electrical, and HVAC systems; and restoring interior finishes. Separately, RT1’s renovation services involve performing multi-unit interior and exterior upgrades to multifamily complexes aiming for short turnaround times that minimize vacancy periods. The company is headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Wheeling (www.responseteam1.com).
As part of the investment by Nautic Partners, RT1 has acquired three restoration businesses: Emergency Reconstruction (Raleigh, NC); JFS Construction Group (Van Nuys, CA); and Venturi Technologies (Philadelphia, PA).
Response Team 1 was founded by John Goense and Erik Bloom, former private equity investors at Goense & Company and Allstate Private Equity. “We are excited about the prospects for RT1 and our new partnership with Nautic,” said Mr. Bloom. “With the strength of our core business combined with these acquisitions, each of which is a leader in its respective geography, we are better poised than ever to serve our customers and to capitalize on the immense market opportunity before us.”
“RT1 enjoys strong relationships and high customer satisfaction with property & casualty insurance carriers, insurance adjusters, and multifamily operators,” said Doug Hill, Managing Director of Nautic. “We are enthusiastic to partner with John and Erik to continue RT1’s tradition of excellence and to support the future growth of the company, which will come both organically and through capitalizing on the substantial consolidation opportunity that exists in the company’s fragmented market.”
Nautic Partners is a middle-market private equity firm with over $2.5 billion of equity capital under management. Nautic targets majority equity investments of $25 million to $75 million. Sectors of interest include business services, manufacturing, and healthcare. The firm was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Providence, RI (www.nautic.com).
“We believe Nautic is an ideal partner for us in the next stage of RT1’s growth,” said John Goense, Chairman and CEO, Response Team 1. “Nautic shares our strategic vision for RT1 to continue expanding its position in the restoration and renovation market. Moreover, Nautic’s substantial prior success with labor-intensive consolidation strategies such as GCA Services, as well as with de-centralized residential services models such as Chem-Dry, positions the firm as an experienced partner for RT1.”
Antares Capital (www.antares.com) and LStar Capital (www.lstarcap.com) provided financing for the transaction. Robert W. Baird & Co. (www.rwbaird.com) acted as financial advisor for Response Team 1.
© 2016 Private Equity Professional • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 3-23-16
