Incline Equity Partners has sold Ned Stevens, a provider of residential exterior services, to AVALT, a Boston-based family office.
Ned Stevens provides a range of gutter related services including cleaning, protection, repair, and installation. The company also cleans roofs, siding, decks, windows, fences, patios and walkways. The company serves more than 60,000 customers through 15 offices in 15 states.
Ned Stevens was founded in 1965 by, of course, Ned Stevens, a milkman who was often asked by his route customers to help with work around their homes, specifically gutter cleaning. Today, the company is led by CEO Rob Rapuano and is headquartered near New York City in Fairfield, NJ (www.nedstevens.com).
Inclined acquired Ned Stevens in September 2016 and grew the company by entering new markets and adding complementary service offerings. “We are very proud of what we accomplished working together with Rob and the entire management team at Ned,” said Leon Rubinov, a senior partner at Incline. “Having nearly doubled the size of the business, the company is in a very strong position to continue their growth far into the future.”
“In a very short period, Incline helped us transform the business through strategic investments in expanding the management team, re-developing the marketing strategy, enhancing the pricing program and upgrading the technology platform,” said Mr. Rapuano. “We thank Incline for taking the time to truly understand our unique business, and for giving us all the tools, guidance and support we ever wanted or needed. Our growth and success reflect a great partnership.”
Incline invests in lower middle-market growth companies that have enterprise values of $25 million to $300 million. Sectors of interest include value-added distribution, specialized light manufacturing, and business services. Incline was formed in 2011 and is based in Pittsburgh (www.inclineequity.com).
AVALT, a family office, makes control or significant minority investments of $25 million to $150 million in companies that have from $5 million to $35 million in EBITDA. Sectors of interest include business services, healthcare, consumer, industrials, and technology, media, and telecom. AVALT (the name of the firm is an acronym for Aligned, Value-Added, Long Term) was founded in 2015 by partners Marko Kivisto, Ian Reynolds and Mark Verdi (all ex-Bain Capital) and is headquartered in Boston (www.avalt.com).
“We are delighted to partner with the Ned Stevens management team to help them continue building their business. Ned Stevens is a market leader that is truly differentiated within its industry, and as a result has many opportunities for future expansion,” said Mr. Kivisto.
“Our management team is very excited about our new partnership with AVALT. Our business has grown quickly and the AVALT team brings all the right skills, experience and expertise to launch us to the next level. Like Ned Stevens, AVALT is a highly collaborative, energetic team with goals and objectives perfectly aligned with ours,” added Mr. Rapuano.
Twin Brook Capital Partners, the middle-market direct lending arm of Angelo Gordon, served as the administrative agent on a $133 million unitranche credit facility that supported this transaction. Chicago-based Twin Brook focuses on loans to private equity-owned companies with EBITDA between $3 million and $50 million, with an emphasis on companies with $25 million of EBITDA and below. The firm targets senior financing opportunities up to $200 million, with hold sizes across the platform ranging from $25 million up to $150 million. Twin Brook’s products include opportunistic investments in second lien, mezzanine, and equity co-investments.
Alvarez & Marsal was the accounting advisor to AVALT and Ropes & Gray provided legal services.
© 2019 Private Equity Professional | October 7, 2019