home maintenance

New Harbor Capital has made a majority investment in Fix-It 24/7, a residential home services provider.

Fix-It provides non-discretionary home maintenance, repair, and replacement services, for HVAC, electrical, and plumbing systems. The company, led by CEO George Donaldson, exclusively serves the residential home segment and its current service territory is the greater Denver Metropolitan area.

“From the first encounter it was obvious our organizations shared similar values as well as a growth-oriented mindset,” said Mr. Donaldson. “New Harbor’s depth of experience working with owner-operators, their track record of successfully accelerating growth, and their focus on building quality businesses were critical factors in our evaluation, and we are excited to have them as our partner.”

“We’re extremely excited to be partnering with George Donaldson and the team at Fix-It,” said Ed Lhee, a partner at New Harbor Capital. “George and the team have created a culture of excellence, and we are excited to support them with investments in technology, infrastructure, and strategic acquisitions to further accelerate the company’s growth.”

Chicago-based New Harbor invests from $10 million to $40 million of equity in companies that have from $3 million to $15 million of EBITDA. Sectors of interest include growth-oriented business services companies with an emphasis on the healthcare and education industries. New Harbor was co-founded in February 2013 by Tom Formolo and Ed Lhee, long-time partners at CHS Capital, and have completed over 200 investments since 2000.

Private Equity Professional | June 12, 2020

Investcorp has acquired a majority equity interest in The Wrench Group, a provider of home maintenance and repair services, including heating, ventilation and air conditioning, plumbing and electrical services. Investcorp acquired its equity interest from Alpine Investors, Skylight Capital, and Wrench Group management.

As part of the transaction, management will continue in their current roles with the company and retain a meaningful equity interest. Alpine Investors and Skylight Capital will also maintain minority equity investments.

According to Investcorp, The Wrench Group operates in a large and fragmented $200 billion market and has demonstrated consistent growth through all economic cycles.  In 2015 the revenue for the group was approximately $150 million. The Wrench Group has over 140,000 customers in the Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, and Phoenix metropolitan markets. The company is headquartered north of Dallas in Melissa, TX (www.wrenchgroup.com).

“Investcorp is excited to partner with The Wrench Group’s management team which has distinguished itself by achieving growth in each of the company’s markets while providing superior customer service,” said David Tayeh, Head of Corporate Investment for North America at Investcorp. “We plan to support the company in continuing to build upon its strong organic growth in its current regions and strategically expanding into new regions.”

Investcorp invests in mid-size companies operating in an array of industry sectors that have total enterprise values of between $200 million and $1 billion and are located in North America or Western Europe. As at December 31, 2015, Investcorp had about $10.7 billion in total assets under management. Investcorp has offices in New York, London, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia (www.investcorp.com).

“We spent the past five years identifying and partnering with the best regional companies who have strong leadership and the right cultural fit in the non-discretionary home service space.  Investcorp shares our commitment to our team, our customers and our industry, and we are thrilled to have them as a partner,” said Collin Hathaway, Managing Partner of Skylight Capital and Chairman of Wrench.

Skylight Capital invests in companies in the Western US with $1 million to $4 million of EBITDA. Sectors of interest include auto paint distribution, business services and outsourcing, consumer products, direct marketing, education & training, gaming equipment and services, jewelry, non-asset based logistics, specialty retail, vending, and wealth management. Skylight is led by Mr. Hathaway and is headquartered in Seattle (www.skylight-capital.com).

“The management team at Wrench has built a world class, durable company that continues to provide incredible service and value to thousands of customers throughout the US,” said Graham Weaver, founder and partner of Alpine Investors. “We are honored to have Investcorp, a first rate and experienced investor, as a partner to help the company realize its potential.”

Alpine invests in founder-owned, middle-market companies in the software, online and business services industries that have from $5 million to $15 million of EBITDA.  Since founding in 2001, Alpine has raised over $900 million of committed capital though five funds. The firm is based in San Francisco (www.alpine-investors.com).

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