emergency services

The Riverside Company has acquired PearServe (DBA DEAN Alert) as the fifth add-on to its Emergency Communications Network (ECN) platform.

DEAN Alert provides time-sensitive warnings, information about natural disasters, and other vital information to citizens, employees and other constituents through voice, text and email notification services. The company’s customers include healthcare, education, and corporate clients nationwide. DEAN Alert is based in Louisville, KY (www.deanalert.com).

ECN provides critical, time-sensitive communications to individuals on behalf of over 1,000 government and education clients across all 50 states. The company’s software-as-a-service products – CodeRED, CodeRED Weather Warning and CodeED – allow state and county governments, municipalities, first responders, public utilities, and school districts to deliver millions of messages annually to communicate warnings, information about natural disasters or other information to save lives, find missing children and keep citizens out of harm’s way. ECN is based in Ormond Beach, FL (www.ecnetwork.com).

The acquisition of DEAN Alert deepens ECN’s corporate and institutional client base which is currently served by ECN’s SmartNotice product.  “This is an important chapter in ECN’s growth story,” said Riverside Partner Chris Jones. “ECN’s superior products and client service have helped it thrive in the government sector, and we’re excited about helping them continue to grow with corporate and institutional clients.”

Working with Mr. Jones on the transaction for Riverside were Vice President Brad Roberts and Senior Associate Max Moehlmann. Origination Principal Jeremy Holland sourced the deal for Riverside.

The Riverside Company is a private equity firm focused on the smaller end of the middle market (“SEMM”). Riverside specializes in investing in SEMM companies (those valued up to $250 million) and partners with management teams to build companies through acquisitions and value-added growth. Since 1988, the firm has invested in more than 340 transactions with a total enterprise value of more than $6 billion. The firm’s current portfolio includes more than 70 companies. The Riverside Company is headquartered in New York with additional offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and London (www.riversidecompany.com).

2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 7-16-14

National Response Corporation, a portfolio company of J.F. Lehman & Company, has completed the acquisition of Specialized Response Solutions.

Specialized Response Solutions (SRS) is a provider of emergency response, firefighting, specialized equipment fabrication, training, and other specialized response services primarily for the rail and industrial chemicals industries. SRS will operate under NRC’s Environmental Services – West division. The company is headquartered in Fort Worth, TX (www.specializedresponse.com).

National Response Corporation (NRC), acquired by J.F. Lehman in March 2012, is a provider of diversified environmental, industrial and emergency response services. The company has approximately 910 employees and is headquartered in Great River, NY (Long Island) with regional offices throughout the US and internationally (www.nrcc.com).

“SRS is a great fit with NRC’s strategy’s to expand our environmental services offerings in the high hazard and rail industries. We look forward to working with SRS to expand our presence and capabilities in the Texas market to better serve our new and existing customer base as well as helping SRS grow its national response platform and capabilities,” said Steve Candito, CEO of NRC.

J.F. Lehman & Company is a middle-market private equity firm focused primarily on the maritime, defense, and aerospace sectors. The firm was founded by Dr. John Lehman, who served six years as Secretary of the United States Navy. To date, J.F. Lehman has made investments in companies with an aggregate transaction value of approximately $1.6 billion. The firm was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in New York with additional offices in Washington, DC and London (www.jflpartners.com).

© 2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 3-26-14

Emergency Communications Network, a portfolio company of The Riverside Company, has acquired the Emergency Notification division of Global Connect.

Global Connect’s Emergency Notification division primarily serves government customers on the East Coast, and has hundreds of municipalities and other government customers. The division’s products are used in emergency situations to contact first responders and staff members, volunteers and residents. The division is based in Mays Landing, NJ (www.gc1.com).

Emergency Communications Network (ECN) provides critical, time-sensitive communications to individuals on behalf of over 1,000 government and education clients across all 50 states. The company’s software-as-a-service products – CodeRED, CodeRED Weather Warning and CodeED – allow state and county governments, municipalities, first responders, public utilities, and school districts to deliver millions of messages annually to communicate warnings, information about natural disasters or other information to save lives, find missing children and keep citizens out of harm’s way. The company is based in Ormond Beach, FL (www.ecnetwork.com).

Riverside plans to continue building the company organically and through add-ons. “We’re excited about the future,” said ECN President David DiGiacomo. “Less than two years after Riverside invested in our company, we’ve already completed four add-on acquisitions and our position in the market has never been stronger.”

“This is a great fit for ECN, and another chapter in the growth story of the company,” said Riverside Partner Chris Jones. “These new clients will soon enjoy a more feature-rich, intuitive and powerful tool through ECN’s CodeRED product.” Working with Mr. Jones on the transaction for Riverside were Martha Sciaraffo, Vice President; Brad Roberts, Senior Associate and Max Moehlmann, Associate. Principal, Origination Jeremy Holland sourced the transaction for Riverside.

The Riverside Company is a private equity firm focused on the smaller end of the middle market (“SEMM”). Riverside specializes in investing in SEMM companies (those valued up to $250 million) and partners with management teams to build companies through acquisitions and value-added growth. Since 1988, the firm has invested in more than 310 transactions with a total enterprise value of more than $6 billion. The firm’s current portfolio includes more than 75 companies. The Riverside Company is headquartered in New York with additional offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and London (www.riversidecompany.com).

© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 6-12-13