online training

Falfurrias Exits American Safety Council

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Falfurrias Capital Partners has sold its portfolio company, American Safety Council, to Ridgemont Equity Partners. Falfurrias acquired ASC in May 2014.

American Safety Council (ASC) is a provider of online training, education, and certification services to individuals and businesses – more than two million every year – that are active in the driver and traffic safety, workplace safety, testing, medical continuing education and other regulatory-driven sectors. The company, led by CEO John Comly, was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Orlando, Florida.

ASC actively collaborates with federal and state agencies, colleges and universities, trade associations and industry to keep the company’s courses compliant with applicable laws, regulations or industry standards.

“We are proud of our successful partnership with American Safety Council, which was defined by significant investments in the team, technology, and content, all of which contributed to strong growth,” said Wilson Sullivan, a principal at Falfurrias. “John and his team have built an online training platform with world-class digital marketing and content development capabilities, as well as a proven track record of successful acquisitions that have created strategic value.”

During Falfurrias’ ownership term of just over six years, ASC completed five add-on acquisitions and expanded the company’s digital marketing and customer acquisition platforms. The five add-on acquisitions were Online Traffic School (December 2014); Huckleberry Notary Bonding (July 2016); National Safety Training/National Hospitality Training (November 2017); Florida Drivers Association (September 2019); and Food Safety Educators (February 2020).

“Falfurrias Capital Partners proved to be the ideal partner for American Safety Council over the past six years, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with Wilson and the team to help ASC realize its growth potential,” said Mr. Comly. “We look forward to working with the Ridgemont team as we continue to fulfill that mission.”

“ASC has an outstanding management team, led by John Comly, and a uniquely scaled, national platform with nearly two million customers and over four hundred online courses that help people lead safer and more productive lives,” said Rob Edwards, a partner at Ridgemont. “We have followed the business and its impressive growth trajectory for many years and are very pleased to partner with the ASC team to continue to invest in its content and technology and to actively pursue M&A opportunities in adjacent end markets.”

Charlotte, North Carolina-based Ridgemont focuses on middle-market buyout and growth equity investments of $50 million to $250 million in companies with $5 million to $50 million. The firm invests in the following sectors: business and industrial services, energy, healthcare, and technology and telecommunications. In December 2018, the firm held an oversubscribed final closing of Ridgemont Equity Partners III LP with $1.65 billion in commitments.

“There has been an ongoing paradigm shift of learning environments gravitating from the classroom to a digital setting, and the current public health crisis has accelerated this movement,” said Charles Anderson, a partner at Ridgemont. “Additionally, the U.S. regulatory landscape has become more stringent in many training and continuing education segments. ASC is extremely well-positioned to provide trusted, high-quality content in a user-friendly online format, and Ridgemont is excited to embark on this next chapter of growth alongside the company’s management team.”

Charlotte, North Carolina-based Falfurrias makes equity investments in growth-oriented middle-market companies that have EBITDA from $5 million to $40 million. In February 2019, Falfurrias closed its latest fund, Falfurrias Capital Partners IV LP, at its hard cap of $500 million. The firm’s earlier fund closed with $275 million of capital in March 2017. Falfurrias was founded in 2006 by Hugh McColl Jr., former chairman and CEO of Bank of America; Marc Oken, former CFO of Bank of America; and Ed McMahan, a former principal at Chicago Growth Partners and its predecessor firm, William Blair Capital Partners.

Financing for this transaction was provided by Benefit Street Partners, AB Private Credit Investors and funds advised by Churchill Asset Management.

Robert W. Baird was the financial advisor to American Safety Council and William Blair served as the financial advisor to Ridgemont.

Private Equity Professional | June 24, 2020

Revelstoke Acquires Career Step

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Revelstoke Capital Partners has completed the acquisition of Career Step, a provider of online training programs, from DW Healthcare Partners.

Career Step is a provider of online, career-focused training programs to the healthcare sector.  The company’s courses are used to gain career skills and to prepare for certification testing.  Career Step has trained over 85,000 students and has more than 150 partnerships with colleges and universities nationwide.  The company is headquartered in Provo, UT (www.careerstep.com).

Revelstoke intends to accelerate the company’s organic growth as well as pursue add-on acquisitions. “We are enthusiastic about the prospect of working with an extremely talented and experienced management team to grow Career Step and further solidify its position as a leader in the online education and training industry,” said Mark King, CEO, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Revelstoke.  “Career Step’s programs are tailored to be cost effective and short in duration with the objective of conveying career specific skills, creating a compelling value proposition for its learners.”

Revelstoke invests from $10 million to $250 million in companies that have at least $5 million of EBITDA.  Sectors of interest include healthcare services and products; transportation and logistics; specialty distribution; energy and energy services; building products; business and outsourced services; marketing services; financial services; industrial services; and medical technology. The firm is headquartered in Denver (www.revelstokecp.com).

Ally Corporate Finance (www.ally.com/corporate-finance) and Norwest Mezzanine Partners (www.nmp.com) provided debt financing for the transaction. William Blair & Company served as exclusive financial advisor and Paul Hastings acted as exclusive legal advisor to Career Step in the transaction.  Hogan Lovells acted as exclusive legal advisor to Revelstoke.

© 2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 2-4-15

Riverside Acquires Grace Hill

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The Riverside Company has acquired Grace Hill, a provider of training services to the apartment industry.

Grace Hill provides training products to owners, employees and managers working in the apartment industry. Grace Hill allows property managers to train employees with an on-demand service so that they are compliant with rules and regulations on topics such as Fair Housing, OSHA, sexual harassment, and more.  Grace Hill currently serves more than 400,000 customers worldwide who collectively take more than 850,000 courses annually.  The company was founded in 1998 and is based in Augusta, GA (www.gracehill.com).

“Grace Hill helps employees and owners of multi-tenant buildings protect their investments and their reputations,” said Riverside Managing Partner Loren Schlachet. “Their training is easy to use and comprehend, but it tackles complex legal, regulatory and professional issues.”

According to Riverside, though it is currently a leader in the market, Grace Hill has room to expand as customers and prospects switch from in-house training to the more effective online services Grace Hill offers.  Riverside expects to invest in growing Grace Hill through continued investment in content, new products and technology and sales and marketing capabilities.

 “Grace Hill provides tremendous value for its customers,” said Riverside Partner Brian Sauer. “The multi-family housing industry has extensive training needs, and Grace Hill provides a simple one-stop shop for consistent and extensive training offerings. Their extremely high customer retention rate is a great testimonial for Grace Hill’s value.”

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).

Working with Mr. Schlachet and Mr. Sauer on the transaction for Riverside were Operating Partner Mike Eblin, Vice President John McKernan and Associate Ryan Philyaw. Origination Principal Jeremy Holland sourced the transaction for Riverside. Riverside Micro-Cap Fund Centralized CFO Dan Stankey served as finance director, and Vice President Dan Haynes worked on financing the transaction for the firm.

Freeport Capital (www.freeportfinancial.com) provided financing for the transaction. Riverside was advised by Jones Day and Deloitte.

2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 8-20-14