• John and Matine Yuksel moved from San Francisco to the Midwest in 2020.

• The brothers and business partners lived in Iowa and Cincinnati while founding their startup.

• Sometimes they miss living in California, but love the friendly people and affordable prices of Cincinnati.

This essay is based on a conversation with John Yuksel, 33, and Matine Yuksel, 29, two brothers who moved from San Francisco to Dubuque, Iowa, in 2020 to start Beltways, an accelerated pavement company. The brothers then moved to Cincinnati in 2022. Their company is based nearby in Northern Kentucky.

John: We are children of immigrant parents who grew up in southern Arizona.

I always knew I wanted to be close to my brother. He's my only sibling. After college, we lived in San Diego for a few years and then moved to San Francisco in 2018.

Death: San Francisco is incredible. I've never seen such a diverse environment there and it's a world-class environment for companies, especially in technology.

John: Matine worked for Walmart e-commerce and later got a job at Apple. I worked as a lawyer.

We paid an incredibly high rent, but had the best view of the Pacific and saw the sunset outside our windows every night.

But San Francisco was in the apocalypse. During COVID, the streets were empty. It felt unsafe. My car was broken into several times.

Death: COVID helped us rethink and reprioritize things. Instead of working on bringing the next generation iPhone to market, I wanted to build a new product that few people have ever heard of.

John: Beltways is actually our father's dream. Forty years ago, he lived in Istanbul and realized that today's forms of mobility were not moving people efficiently. He came up with a modular design to make pedestrian routes ten times faster.

John and Matine Yuksel with their parents.Courtesy of John and Matine Yuksel

My brother and I always wanted to do something together and years after our father came up with the idea, we started looking into it.

Death: We founded Beltways in July 2020. We quickly realized we had to move out of San Francisco. It would have been far too expensive to do what we needed to do there.

John: It wasn't the right place for our startup. We're a large hardware manufacturing startup. It made much more sense to be near industrial technology clusters. We wanted to be in the Midwest, where manufacturing is still profitable.

Death: John met someone with experience in the sidewalk business and he offered us a deal in Iowa.

We moved to Dubuque, Iowa in 2020

John: It was a very small town in the middle of the cornfields, an hour and a half from any airport. Dubuque is a beautiful, quiet town on the Mississippi. We could drive anywhere in the city in two minutes.

We practically lived in a mansion. We had a three-story, four-bedroom house for half the price of our condo in San Francisco.

Death: The snow was definitely a change. We got our share of physical activity by shoveling snow.

It was a different way of life. We had to be focused and Iowa was good because we didn't have too many distractions. The two years we spent in Iowa flew by.

The brothers said they had to adjust to small-town life after moving to Dubuque, Iowa.Courtesy of John and Matine Yuksel

John: We built the prototype for the fastest walkway in the world when we lived there. It was a thirty-meter-long system and earned us our first VC check.

This was a huge milestone for us. We put all our money into this company. We quit our regular jobs. We refinanced our house. There was nothing more fulfilling than turning our father's invention into a commercial venture.

Death: It was a surreal day when he came out and rode the system for the first time. It was the icing on the cake to see his enthusiasm for something he dreamt up so many years ago.

John: We had to look for a new location for our company. The next step was to pilot our walkway. We were invited by several airports to do a pilot demo of our system.

We knew that CVG Airport in Cincinnati had a real track record of innovation and startup support. The area was also beneficial for manufacturing. It's super cheap. The facility we're currently in is just a little more expensive than my rent in San Francisco and is 20,000 square feet.

We moved to Cincinnati in 2022

John: We even moved our parents here. We wanted our father to work with us and be a part of the company personally. Our parents live three floors below us in our building in the Mount Adams neighborhood.

When we moved to Cincinnati, we felt like we were back in a big city after two years in Iowa. We have big sports teams and a big major airport. The climate is much more temperate.

The winters have been pretty mild so far. The spring is lush and green. You can kayak down the rivers and there are great hiking trails nearby. The air quality is great. And the summers aren't 120 degrees like Arizona.

I met my partner and now I have a child who was born here in Cincinnati. The city has become home for us. The company is here, the whole family is here.

John and Matine Yuksel enjoy a football game in Cincinnati.Courtesy of John and Matine Yuksel

Sometimes we miss living on the coast. California is a beautiful place. We love the climate and the diversity of the people. San Francisco is where technology starts and flows out. It really is the birthplace of many amazing things.

Death: But the tech scene in Cincinnati has also been very good to us. It's growing. It's a tight-knit startup community. From the moment we got here, the community was so welcoming.

John: And it's much cheaper here.

Bringing our father's dream to life was incredible

Death: We started Beltways in a modest garage in Tucson, where my brother built prototypes himself. Now we're in a 20,000-square-foot facility here in Northern Kentucky, right next to our first airport customer. And we manufacture in the USA.

John: Our goal is to become an official partner of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and to provide temporary high-speed transportation.

Cincinnati is a great place to raise a family and run a business, and we can see ourselves staying there for the foreseeable future.

But our ultimate goal is to make our sidewalks commonplace and to spread this technology around the world. Wherever we need to go to make that possible, we will. This is bigger than us.

Read the original article on Business Insider

The post We’re millennial brothers and enterprise companions who left San Francisco’s tech bubble for the Midwest manufacturing scene. We by no means would have been capable of afford to launch our startup in California. appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

MELBOURNE, Australia, November 15, 2023–(BUSINESS WIRE)–SafetyWing, global insurance provider for digital nomads and remote teams, proudly announces a strategic partnership with Outstaffer, Global EOR and HR tech company.

This collaboration integrates SafetyWing’s insurance offerings into Outstaffer’s revolutionary SaaS Global Workforce Platform. Outstaffer’s clientele can now provide their globally distributed teams with equitable and comprehensive health benefits, with an exclusive discount of up to 35% below standard individual premiums.

By enabling their customers to offer these benefits, Outstaffer demonstrates their dedication to employee well-being and equips their clients with a competitive edge. With the inclusion of SafetyWing’s health coverage offering, Outstaffer’s customers are now better positioned to attract and retain top global talent.

SafetyWing’s collaboration with Outstaffer aligns with their vision to construct a world without borders, by offering world-class insurance services– one policy they can use in 175+ countries– to more users around the world.

On the new partnership, CEO Thomas Derum said, “This strategic alliance with SafetyWing is more than a collaboration; it’s a revolution in the remote working landscape. In an era where 66% of the workforce deem extensive employee benefits as crucial, it has become imperative for businesses to not only fulfill but exceed the basic offerings of compensation and mandatory benefits to attract and retain the best talent around the world. Together, we’re not just offering health insurance benefits—we’re crafting a world where the wellbeing of remote employees is at the forefront, irrespective of location.”

Co-founder and CEO of SafetyWing, Sondre Rasch, said: “We’re thrilled to announce a strategic partnership with Outstaffer. Remote work is one of the greatest paradigm shifts of our generation, and this revolution is only in its beginnings. SafetyWing was launched because we saw first-hand that there was no global infrastructure to support remote workers. In order to ensure equal opportunities for everyone, SafetyWing is building a global social safety net for remote workers and teams. We’re proud of partnering with Outstaffer, and to empower their clients to provide global health benefits to their distributed teams through our Remote Health product.”

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This partnership signifies a new era for global businesses and remote teams, with two industry leaders coming together from different parts of the world to bridge the gap between global employment and equitable benefits.

For more information or to arrange a demo, visit www.outstaffer.com.

Notes to Editor

About SafetyWing

Launched in 2018, SafetyWing’s vision is to build a global social safety net, making equal opportunities and freedom for everyone attainable worldwide. Its first product, Nomad Insurance, is a global travel medical insurance which quickly experienced massive growth, as it was the first insurance product specifically tailored to digital nomads working outside of their home country. In 2020 SafetyWing launched Remote Health, a health insurance to cover employees and contractors under one plan, making it the world’s first truly global health insurance solution for remote teams. It has since grown on an explosive path, increasing 10x in size since one year ago. Founded by CTO Sarah Sandnes, COO Hans Nyvold Kjellby, and CEO Sondre Rasch, SafetyWing is headquartered in San Francisco, California, but has a 180-strong team of fully remote workers based all over the world.

About Outstaffer

Outstaffer is the developer of a SaaS-based Global Workforce Platform designed to allow companies of all sizes to tap into the global talent pool and scale remote working and distributed teams. Founded in 2020 by Thomas Derum, the platform solves the complexities of giving full-time employment to anyone from around the world with no compliance risk, enabling companies to find and hire top talent, make locally compliant payroll, offer great employee benefits, and equip their remote employees with managed devices and the tools they need to work productively, safely and securely from anywhere.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231115463470/en/

Contacts

SafetyWing:
Stefan Heggelund, Head of Communications
stefanh@safetywing.com

Outstaffer:
media@outstaffer.com

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New investment is expected to help Apex continue its growth trajectory in recession-resistant, $100+ billion home services industry

SAN FRANCISCO, October 25, 2023–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Alpine Investors (“Alpine”), a Certified B Corp people-driven private equity firm committed to building enduring software and services companies, today announced the completion of a $3.4 billion single-asset secondary market transaction to continue its partnership with Apex Service Partners (“Apex”), an HVAC, plumbing and electrical services leader and a portfolio company of Alpine Investors VII and VII-A (“Fund VII”).

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231025759806/en/

Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Tampa, Florida, Apex is a residential HVAC, plumbing and electrical services platform that partners with leading providers across the country. With over 8,000 employees nationwide, Apex focuses on empowering its people to build a strong network of industry leaders who can share resources, best practices and expertise in order to deliver unparalleled service to customers.

The transaction is solely dedicated to the further expansion of Apex and underscores Alpine’s commitment to facilitating the next stage of growth for the services platform, as well as Alpine’s dedication to offering liquidity to its limited partners. The announcement follows the recent close of Alpine’s latest fund, Alpine Investors IX (“Fund IX”), which reached the fund’s hard cap of $4.5 billion of LP commitments. Fund IX invested $450 million in Apex alongside the continuation fund.

“Apex has a unique model that is built on combining leading brands with exceptional people,” said Graham Weaver, Founder and CEO of Alpine Investors. “The result is that Apex creates outstanding experiences for its customers and continues to experience explosive growth. We believe the extraordinary people at Apex have only begun to scratch the surface of the market opportunity ahead of them. We are excited to continue supporting their growth and to have given our investors the opportunity to participate in this collaborative secondary process.”

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Commitments for Apex include contributions from Blackstone Strategic Partners, HarbourVest Partners, Lexington Partners, and Pantheon, as well as commitments from Alpine’s Fund IX. Limited partners of Fund VII were able to receive liquidity for their 2019 investments or roll a portion of their investments into the continuation fund and remain stakeholders. In line with Alpine’s investor-friendly process, limited partners were also given opportunities to combine their liquidity and rollover options to varying degrees based on their preferences.

“In just four years, Apex Service Partners has built a leading national business by serving as a force multiplier for the incredible employees and leading local brands within our platform,” said AJ Brown, CEO of Apex Service Partners. “Alpine’s support through its industry experience, resources and focus on people supercharged our growth while helping us hire, train and retain exceptional talent. They’ve been a true thought partner for us at each step in our journey and we’re excited to continue to have them by our side as we seek to scale to new heights with the help of continued and new investors alike.”

AJ Brown was part of Alpine’s CEO-in-Residence program, and he previously served as CFO of construction software company Avitru, a former Alpine portfolio company. Apex President Will Matson is an additional example of recruiting through Alpine’s talent programs, having been hired through its CEO-in-Training program. Both are excited to continue leading Apex during its next phase of growth.

Evercore Inc. acted as the lead financial advisor along with J.P. Morgan and Cowen for the transaction and Kirkland & Ellis served as legal counsel to Alpine. Morrison Foerster served as debt counsel.

About Apex Service Partners

Apex Service Partners is a residential HVAC, plumbing and electrical services group whose goal is to partner with world-class service providers to build an industry leading national platform. Apex focuses on leveraging the power of people to build a strong network of industry leaders who can share resources, best practices and expertise in order to deliver unparalleled service to customers and opportunities for employees. To learn more about Apex Service Partners, please visit www.apexservicepartners.com.

About Alpine Investors

Alpine Investors is a people-driven private equity firm committed to building enduring companies by working with, learning from, and developing exceptional people. Alpine specializes in investments in the software and services industries. Alpine’s PeopleFirst strategy includes a talent program that allows Alpine to bring leadership to situations where additional or new management is needed post-transaction. Alpine has $16 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2023, and has three offices in San Francisco, New York, and Salt Lake City.1 For more information, visit www.alpineinvestors.com and https://alpineinvestors.com/terms-conditions/ for full disclaimers including, but not limited to, third-party statements and certifications and Alpine Operations Group.

_____________________________
1 Inclusive of additional commitments to the continuation fund as of October 20, 2023 and fair market value as of June 30, 2023.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231025759806/en/

Contacts

Media
Audrey Harris
Head of Marketing
aharris@alpineinvestors.com

Sarah Braunstein
sbraunstein@sloanepr.com

The post Alpine Traders Closes $3.4 Billion Single-Asset Continuation Transaction to Help Continued Progress of Apex Service Companions appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Just add cash!

As RollOnFriday has learned, Withers has made a cash call to all of its junior partners.

The company confirmed that junior equity partners were asked to contribute between $25,000 and $52,500 (£19.9,000 to £41.7,000) depending on seniority.

Cash calls can help partnerships strengthen their balance sheets, which has become a more pressing matter for some companies as they grapple with market pressures exacerbated by the impact of the pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and – for UK-based companies – Brexit.

Withers expanded significantly in the US last year, taking a bullish stance on the future of office versus remote work with moves to much larger offices in LA, San Francisco and San Diego.

However, the company told RollOnFriday that its decision to apply for a capital contribution was made two years ago. Rather than an emergency funding measure, it appeared to be a desire to help junior partners leverage the financial bond between attorney and firm that motivated the call.

In a statement, it said, “For the first time, we have asked junior equity partners to make a capital contribution of between $25,000 and $52,500, based on seniority, to help them become more involved in ownership of the company.” The call is not directed to senior equity partners, whose capital needs remain unchanged, the company said.

One of the city’s oldest private client practices, Withers became Withersworldwide in the last decade, surprising everyone with a US merger and an international rollout in some pretty flashy locations (Milan, Tokyo, New York, right next to Domino’s in Cambridge).

It certainly didn’t give the impression that a company was struggling to make money. Withers reported global revenue of £267m in 2022, up from £243.7m a year earlier, while profit per equity partner held steady at £668k after a 32% increase in 2021.

Last summer the company was doing so well that it even gave all trainees, secretaries, paralegals in the EU and Asia and below-level corporate services staff a £1,000 extra living allowance.

Speaking of the rising sales of the US offices in 2022, Michael Brophy, managing director of Withers in Los Angeles, said: “Every year around the world we get the idea that the London market is the most important market for the company.” However, he will take their money.

Let top companies and companies ping your app when they interest you in a job. Whether you plan to actively relocate or not, keep an ear open by downloading LawyerUp on the App Store or Google Play.

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VOX at Cumulus. Image courtesy of TCA Architects

Carmel Partners VOX has opened at Cumulus, a seven-story, 910-unit luxury mixed-use development at 3333 La Cienega Blvd. in Los Angeles. The community is the newest and largest multifamily development in the Cumulus District, a masterfully planned development featuring 1,210 multifamily homes and 100,000 square feet of retail space.

Several stages of development

The development of VOX at Cumulus began in 2020 when Carmel acquired a radio station owned and operated by Cumulus Cumulus Media for $110.6 million, according to a report by the Los Angeles Times. In August of that year, the Los Angeles City Council approved the zoning and construction of ARQ at Cumulus, the adjacent 300-unit residential tower, construction of which was completed in 2021. The former radio station is the tallest freestanding structure in the area.

Retail space in the Cumulus District. Image courtesy of TCA Architects

The construction of VOX at Cumulus took place in parallel with ARQ, the latter of which will be completed in 2022. Carmel Partners worked side by side TCA Architectswhich rendered architectural services, as well as PSOMASwho acted as civil engineer of the project. DCI engineers, Seal electrically, AMPAM, DFDA And MLA provided structural, electrical, plumbing, mechanical and landscape designs. Carmel tapped Griest to oversee the management and operation of the community.

ALSO READ: Secrets to an award-winning multi-family marketing campaign

A Green Point Platinum certified property, VOX at Cumulus features 1,736 solar panels, a walkable park with natural green spaces and a rainwater infiltration system, and electric vehicle charging stations in 20 percent of the parking lots.

VOX at Cumulus, in detail

Designed and marketed to a tenant base of Generation Z, entertainment and technology industries, VOX at Cumulus offers both apartment and townhouse style living arrangements, divided into studio, one, two and three bedroom, one space units between 504 and 1,456 square feet. Homes feature keyless entry locks, interiors with floor-to-ceiling windows and vinyl plank floors, open kitchens, and on-site laundry machines.

Lounge at VOX in the Cumulus. Image courtesy of TCA Architects

On the 14-acre community, residents have access to two separate swimming pools and clubhouses, indoor and outdoor play areas, a recording studio, a private dining area with attached bar, a fitness center, a yoga studio, and a co-working space with conference rooms. Additionally, half of the property’s 100,000-square-foot retail space is occupied by a Whole Foods market.

In addition to being within walking distance, VOX at Cumulus is only 100 meters from the La Cienega/Jefferson subway station, six miles from downtown Los Angeles and five miles south of Hollywood. According to Eric Olsen, vice president and responsible site manager at TCA Architects, these considerations flowed directly into the development of the property. “The community is midway between downtown Los Angeles and the beach towns. As more people return to the office, Vox at Cumulus has direct access to the La Cienega/Jefferson Expo Line. Residents can use the subway line to get to either downtown LA to the east or Santa Monica to the west in 30 minutes,” Olsen told Multi-Housing News.

Carmel’s current offers

Carmel has been involved in several high profile financial and investment ventures. In April, the company closed Carmel Partners Investment Fund 8, a $1.58 billion investment vehicle. In addition to opening the tallest residential building in its area, the company also closed the largest real estate M&A deal in April 2023, the $675 million purchase of Westlake Village, a 47-acre, 2,983-unit community outside of San Francisco.

The post Carmel Companions Opens LA Blended-Use Group appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

March 13, 2023 – Baillie Parker by ON partner recently assisted in the recruitment of Marti Nyman as the new President and CEO of New Wave Design and Verification LLC (New Wave DV), a provider of high-performance digital electronic interface solutions for defense, aerospace and medical applications. Founder and acting CEO Josh Dirlam will assume the role of Executive Chairman, providing oversight and guidance from a leadership role on the Board.

“Marti has the experience and knowledge to steer the future of New Wave DV without losing sight of our core culture or mission,” said Mr. Dirlam. “I am confident that Marti, with his skills and extensive experience, will accelerate his leadership going forward.”

Previously, Mr. Nyman held a variety of leadership positions, including President and CEO of NDC Technologies (acquired by Nordson Corp.), Chief Growth Officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, Vice President of Business Development and Commercialization at UnitedHealthcare, as, and senior positions in a number of Fortune 100 companies including Best Buy, GE and ADC Telecommunications.

In his new role at New Wave DV, Mr. Nyman will be responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the company and developing and executing strategic plans that reflect the culture and core values ​​of New Wave DV.

“I am honored to join the New Wave DV organization and to support our team’s efforts to deliver truly market-leading technology to our customers,” said Mr. Nyman. “New Wave DV’s products and services play a critical role in providing mission-critical capabilities to the military, aerospace and medical industries, and I am delighted to be a part of it.”

Related: ON Partners recruits CEO for MemryX

Headquartered in Minneapolis, MN, New Wave DV is comprised of professionals with extensive knowledge in the design, build, test and delivery of aerospace and defense electronic systems. The company focuses on high bandwidth, ultra-low latency, FPGA processing and specialized networking applications.

Proven recruiters

With a primary focus on the technology, consumer, industrial and life science sectors, ON Partners recruits C-level and executive talent for public and private companies, venture capital and private equity firms. The consultants of the company, founded in 2006, work from offices in Atlanta; Boston; Chicago; Kleveland; Dallas; Menlo Park, CA; Minneapolis. MN; San Francisco; and New York. ON Partners has been re-appointed Hunt for Scanlon media CleanTech/Sustainability Top 25, HR/Diversity recruiter 65, Life sciences and health care 50 And Private Equity 100 recruiting power lists.

ON Partners recruits CEO for Royal House Partners
ON Partners recently helped recruit Doug Hart as the new CEO for Royal House Partners (RHP), a CPS Capital-owned provider of residential HVAC, plumbing and electrical services. Partners Baillie Parker and Matt Mooney led the assignment. “We are very excited to have Doug join the RHP team,” said Jason Fenn, Partner at CPS Capital. “Doug is an incredible leader and team builder with a proven track record. We believe Doug’s extensive background in HVAC and broader home services will enable him to fulfill our vision of building a leading provider of HVAC and plumbing services to the residential market.”

Mr. Parker focuses on board, C-level and VP-level appointments for leading private equity and venture-backed firms. His search experience spans a decade of working across a range of roles and disciplines for multi-billion dollar private and public companies. He has conducted over 300 searches for C-level, board and senior executives in a variety of roles.

New acquisition

ON Partners recently acquired Olympus Search Partners and added its founder Ashley Estes as Senior Partner to further expand its market growth in both PE-enabled health and wellness and TMT. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. “Ashley brings over 14 years of executive search experience to our team, both in the PE-enabled healthcare and software sectors,” she said Matt Mooney, Co-President at ON Partners. “In recent years, ON Partners has expanded across the health and wellness market, particularly as it relates to private equity-backed healthcare, IT healthcare systems and healthcare technology overall. We see significant demand and opportunity in this sector and Ashley is a wonderful addition to the team. Both their leadership and expertise will be extremely valuable.”

Prior to founding Olympus Search Partners, Ms. Estes was a Director at The Lancer Group. She has been conducting C-level searches for PE-backed portfolio companies across a variety of industries for over a decade. In addition, Ms. Estes also directly conducted the search for board and operating partners for the funds.

Related: ON Partners recruits CEO for POWWR

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Editor-in-Chief; and Stephen Sawicki, Editor-in-Chief – Hunt Scanlon Media

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SAN DIEGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Bespoke Partners, a leading provider of retained executive search and leadership advisory services for private equity backed software companies, announced today that it has opened a San Francisco office to enhance its West Coast presence in the United States.

The new regional office will enable the company to further boost the quality of its uniquely tailored executive recruiting and leadership advisory services for private equity backed software and SaaS companies.

“The new office will position us to expand our signature white-glove service for our clients based in the Bay Area,” said Eric Walczykowski, Bespoke’s Chief Executive Officer. “Responsiveness and tailored engagement are our hallmarks and we are raising our services to a new level of efficiency for an unmatched client experience.”

Bespoke Partners is headquartered in San Diego and operates other regional offices in Austin, Texas, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The opening of the new location takes place as Bespoke released the industry’s first talent market trend analysis: the inaugural edition of the Private Equity Talent Benchmark Report. The report provides insights into the talent market for private equity portfolio companies, including compensation trends, executive turnover and upleveling trends, and much more. Complimentary copies can be requested at: www.bespokepartners.com/private-equity-talent-report/.

Central to the growth driving Bespoke’s expansion is its Search 2.0 process, which significantly cuts search time and results in higher executive placement success rates. It features:

• Advanced Scorecarding – tailoring a search to specific company needs and its value creation plan for achieving the investment thesis.

• Deep Validation – the industry’s most in-depth backchannel reference checking to yield unparalleled insight into a candidate’s background and skills.

• FIT Profile – a holistic view of a candidate’s potential for success in the company, team and role.

Bespoke also recently announced a Two-Year Guarantee on executive placements that utilizes its FIT Profile assessment service. Learn more here: http://www.bespokepartners.com/2YG/

About Bespoke Partners

Bespoke Partners is a leading firm focused exclusively on executive recruiting and leadership advisory services for private equity backed software companies.

More than 90% of the most active private equity software investors in the US have relied on Bespoke for leadership recruiting and advisory. Bespoke transformed leadership at portfolio companies achieving buyout transactions totaling more than $25 billion in 2021 alone.

Bespoke’s unique, data-driven services complete searches in typically half the industry average time with a 99% placement success rate.

The firm partners with more than 70 top tier private equity firms, providing human capital services that accelerate execution of value creation plans, cut the risk of mis-hiring, and empower leadership to achieve the investment thesis.

Visit www.bespokepartners.com to learn more.

FIT Profile and Search 2.0 are trademarks of Bespoke Partners.

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The growing Southeast home services company expands into the Kentucky market

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Nov 9, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Leap Partners, a home services company with HVAC and plumbing businesses across the Southeast, recently expanded into the Kentucky market through its acquisition of Hornback Plumbing. In addition to Hornback Plumbing, based in Elizabethtown, Ky.Leap Partners’ growing business portfolio currently includes companies located in Alabama other Tennessee.

Leap Partners (PRNewsfoto/Leap Partners)

“Over the course of nearly 20 years, Hornback Plumbing has built its brand on quality, reliable service,” Leap Partners CEO John Cerasuolo said. “Leap Partners is thrilled to have the opportunity to help Hornback take its services to a new level, and we are actively looking for more companies to join our expanding network.”

Under its new ownership, the Elizabethtown plumbing company will still operate as Hornback Plumbing, and former owners Donnie and Kim Hornback will continue to lead their team.

“Leap Partners was a great company for us to join because they know the importance of helping local businesses like ours grow while continuing to maintain strong ties to the community,” Donnie Hornback said. “They will offer us operational support that will help us better serve our customers, employees and community.”

Established in 2005, Hornback Plumbing serves Elizabethtown and surrounding communities, including Brandenburg. They offer services in the areas of plumbing and drain cleaning and are available 24/7 for emergency services. They also sell and install water heaters, softeners and filters.

About Leap Partners

Headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., Leap Partners is working to connect the best small and medium-sized HVAC, plumbing and electrical service businesses in the Southeast to build a world-class service provider. The company’s family of service businesses currently includes Conditioned Air Solutions (Huntsville, Ala.), Drain Factory (Birmingham, Ala.), George Plumbing (Hartselle, Ala.), hornback plumbing (Elizabethtown, Ky.), and Scenic City Heating & AC (Chattanooga, Tenn.). Under Leap Partners’ ownership, these businesses are committed to providing industry-leading customer satisfaction and employee engagement. For more information and to read partner testimonials, visit theleappartners.com and theleappartners.com/testimonials.

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surgery

View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/leap-partners-acquires-hornback-plumbing-301672326.html

SOURCE Leap Partners

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SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 16, 2022–(BUSINESS WIRE)–San Francisco Equity Partners (SFEP), a private equity firm focused exclusively on partnering with lower middle market companies across the consumer value chain, announced today that it has acquired DGS Retail (DGS), a leading provider of décor, signage, fixtures, displays and other critical products to customers in the grocery, retail, foodservice and consumer brand end markets. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

From its origin as a small signage-focused business, DGS now manages a skilled workforce across multiple operating divisions and facilities that provide design, procurement, manufacturing and installation services across multiple product categories. The company provides a single source for a broad range of offerings to help customers define and improve their image, environment and consumer experience within brick-and-mortar locations.

“DGS has an impressive track record of growth built on strong, long-term relationships with a large and diverse base of national and regional customers,” said SFEP Partner David Mannix. “The DGS team has built a broad set of capabilities through both organic growth and synergistic acquisitions, which enable the company to compete and win in a large and extremely fragmented market.”

“SFEP’s experience working with both consumer brands and business-to-business companies serving consumer end markets makes this an ideal partnership for us,” said DGS CEO Peter Stevens. “Partnering with SFEP will give DGS greater access to operational resources and capital to drive growth.”

The acquisition of DGS exemplifies SFEP’s commitment to partnering with leading B2B companies serving large consumer end markets. “Through a unique combination of consumer industry experience and our operationally intensive investment approach, we are able to deliver compelling outcomes for our stakeholders,” said SFEP Managing Partner Scott Potter. “We believe DGS has tremendous growth potential and we’re excited to partner with Peter and his exceptional team.”

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About DGS Retail

DGS is a leading provider of décor, signage, fixtures, displays and other critical products to the grocery, retail, foodservice and consumer brand end markets. DGS’ operations span four divisions and over 400,000 square feet across five facilities in Massachusetts, Florida, Illinois, Wisconsin and California. The company provides a broad range of solutions and is one of only a few companies that can deliver décor, signage, fixtures, and displays at scale to national and large regional customers. For more information, visit www.customretailbydgs.com.

About San Francisco Equity Partners

San Francisco Equity Partners is a private equity firm focused exclusively on partnering with lower middle market companies across the consumer value chain. To each of its partner companies, SFEP serves as an extension of the management team and provides both extensive operating experience and a broad network of relationships across the consumer products landscape. For more information, please visit www.sfequitypartners.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221116005171/en/

Contacts

Jeff Fox
The Blueshirt Group (for San Francisco Equity Partners)
415-828-8298
jeff@blueshirtgroup.com

The post San Francisco Fairness Companions Acquires Majority Stake in DGS Retail appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Pictured (left to right): Yasemin Kologlu, Kimberley Petredis, Caleb Anderson, Laura Kohler

Kohler Company partnered with The Real Deal and Best Plumbing Supply to host an event at the Kohler Experience Center in New York City during Climate Week 22′ which brought together a trio of AEC experts about the responsibility manufacturers and the development community have in addressing major societal shifts like climate change, water shortages and urbanization. With a rapidly aging and increasingly urban population, the discussion led by Kohler Company SVP Human Resources, Stewardship and Sustainability, Laura Kohler, kicked off with an urgent call to action to design sustainable products, living and working spaces that reduce environmental impact while accounting for changes brought about by climate instability. It continued with an urgent call to action for manufacturers and the build industry to unlock consumer adoption of more environmentally friendly products.

“The market is changing,” said Yasemin Kologlu, Design Principal at SOM (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill), a leading architecture and engineering firm with studios in the United States and the UK. “As designers, it’s our job to make sure that sustainability can be delivered at every price point. I don’t think that should be our excuse any longer.” Kologlu pointed out that companies like Kohler producing a wider range of sustainable products help her in her role as a designer, giving her the ability to address climate impact at “every level of society.”

Caleb Anderson, Partner at Drake/Anderson emphasized the importance of teaching clients and consumers about the importance and benefits of environmentally friendly designed products and spaces. “Our responsibility as an industry is to come together and educate people,” said Anderson, who went on to say that sustainable products often set themselves apart from the rest of what’s on offer by virtue of their sustainability. “When we show clients an innovative material that we are excited about, it makes them excited.”

“One thing that people have always been really great at is rising to an occasion and innovating out of a problem,” said Kimberley Petredis, Director of Residential Interiors at FXCollaborative in Brooklyn. Petredis, who works with big-name developers around New York City, mentioned that she has seen an increased interest in sustainable design in the last couple of years, thanks in part to individuals recognizing the need to address climate change as well as more budgetary concerns . “Depending on what kind of product it is, you might actually be saving money in the long run by paying more upfront.”

Laura Kohler tied things up with a few lessons that she had gleaned from the discussion. She used Kohler’s WasteLab as an example of her first lesson, that design and engineering don’t have to conflict with sustainability. The WasteLab, which takes materials destined for the landfill and repurposes them into manufactured materials like tiles, has taken off since its inception in 2019, with more demand for the products than the firm can meet. “Let’s try to use easy-to-understand language. Let’s bring everybody with us. Everyone’s participation counts.” After all, it’s all of our futures that are at stake.

“We’re starting to see a lot of really interesting products and solutions,” said Caleb Anderson, who got the last word. “The exciting thing to me is that with the challenge comes newfound creativity and innovation.”

The second lesson related to what Caleb Anderson said about generating excitement around sustainable products, and Kohler emphasized the importance of the company’s associates in creating positive energy around products like those from WasteLab to build the momentum needed to make real change happen. The third lesson related to the need to produce environmentally friendly products at multiple price points now, not at some distant point in the future, calling back to Kimberley Petredis’s point that demand for these products grows every day.

Finally, Kohler closed out the discussion with a call for the AEC industry to be inclusive when talking about sustainability.

Ready to learn more? reach out to [email protected] today to make an appointment at their showroom to see the experience.

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