Professional Services Acquisitions in 2022

Mobeus has supported a management buyout of The Translation People, investing £12.4m alongside vendor and management rollover to back MD Jasmin Schneider and the senior team. The investment establishes The Translation People as a buy-and-build platform in the fragmented language services market, with the vendors Stephen Wilde and David Nichols stepping back while retaining a minority stake.

Siguler Guff & Company, LP made a R$150 million growth investment in Verzani & Sandrini (V&S), a leading Brazilian facilities management, security, and maintenance services provider. The capital will support V&S's continued organic growth and additional acquisition activity as part of a buy-and-build strategy.

Mérieux NutriSciences has acquired Food Technology Consulting International, a Canadian provider of food safety consulting, training, and auditing services. The acquisition expands Mérieux NutriSciences' service capabilities and strengthens its footprint in Canada to better serve regional clients.

Certified Group, a PE-backed North American laboratory testing and regulatory consulting provider, announced an investment in the Knoxville, Tennessee hemp and CBD testing laboratory business of Kaycha Labs. The facility will operate under the Labstat name and expands Certified Group's hemp/CBD testing capabilities in the U.S., complementing its existing food, cosmetics and supplement testing services.

Executive Home Care Holdings, a Riverside-backed holding company, acquired Grasons Co., an Orange County-based estate sale and business liquidation franchisor. The deal is an add-on to the Executive Home Care platform intended to expand the platform's senior services offering and pursue geographic expansion of Grasons' franchise footprint.

Protiviti has acquired digital experience agency R2integrated (R2i) to expand its digital transformation and customer experience capabilities. R2i, an Adobe-focused martech system integrator headquartered in Baltimore with approximately 75 employees, will join Protiviti's Digital solution team; terms were not disclosed.

Los Angeles-based private equity firm Interlock Equity has made a strategic growth investment in Boston-based consulting firm Investor Group Services (IGS). The minority growth capital will support IGS's expansion of its consulting team, new service offerings, geographic footprint, and potential strategic acquisitions while founders and leadership retain significant ownership.

InflowCX, a Renovus Capital Partners-backed provider of contact center advisory, consulting and managed services, has acquired Atlanta-based BPO Partners to expand its contact center consulting, outsourcing and technical services capabilities. The deal is an add-on to InflowCX's platform and is intended to accelerate the combined firm's ability to serve enterprise and mid-market clients with CX, contact center technology and outsourcing strategy services.

Riata Capital Group has led a recapitalization of Salon Republic in partnership with Founder and CEO Eric Taylor and the company's management team. The investment will fund accelerated geographic expansion and strategic growth for Salon Republic, a Woodland Hills-based operator of 24 salon suite locations serving over 2,500 beauty care professionals across seven markets.

IQ-EQ, an Astorg‑backed investor services group, has acquired Laven Compliance Limited to expand its UK regulatory compliance business. Laven Compliance, a UK- and U.S.-based provider of regulatory compliance, regulatory application support and operational due diligence for financial services clients, will join IQ-EQ's regulatory and compliance solutions team; the deal does not involve other parts of the Laven Group.

Sikich has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Vonya Global LLC, a Chicago-based consulting firm specializing in internal audit, corporate governance and risk and compliance services. The deal brings more than 20 Vonya subject-matter experts (including three partners) into Sikich's downtown Chicago office to expand the firm's capabilities and presence in the Chicago market.

ACA Group, a leading governance, risk and compliance (GRC) advisor to the financial services industry, has acquired Advanced Regulatory Compliance, LLC (ARC), a specialist provider of compliance solutions for registered investment advisers. The acquisition expands ACA's RIA-focused compliance capabilities and integrates ARC's advisory expertise into ACA's broader GRC service offering; financial terms were not disclosed.

OutSolve, a Riverside-backed employment compliance firm, has acquired the affirmative action line of business of The Austin Peters Group, Inc., expanding OutSolve’s OFCCP and affirmative action capabilities. The transaction is an add-on to OutSolve’s roll-up strategy and follows Riverside’s involvement to scale the platform’s services and customer acquisition.

OutSolve has acquired the affirmative action compliance business of First Advantage Consulting Firm, LLC (FACF), adding more than 100 customer relationships and expanding OutSolve’s national footprint. FACF will continue its other operations while the acquired clients gain access to OutSolve’s suite of compliance services including compensation analysis, EEO/VETS reporting, DEI, and ESG offerings.

SafetyCo Partners, a health & safety platform backed by private investment firm &Capital, has made an investment in and formed a partnership with Industrial Safety Trainers (IST). IST — a 20+-year occupational health and safety training and consulting business with training centres across Ontario and the mobile "Safety Bus" — will join SafetyCo's portfolio to help scale training, hybrid/virtual delivery, and geographic reach across Canada.

Scarlet Security & Risk Group (SSRG) completed a majority acquisition of Yukon-based Sirius Security Services, creating an equity partnership while retaining Sirius' staff and management. The deal expands SSRG’s northern/remote operations and adds local guarding, mobile patrol and alarm-response capabilities in the Yukon.

Odyssey Investment Partners, a growth-oriented middle-market private equity firm, has acquired Magna Legal Services, a Philadelphia-headquartered litigation support provider, from CIVC Partners. Magna — which serves law firms, corporations, insurance carriers and government agencies across all 50 U.S. states — will continue to be led by its existing management team, who have invested alongside Odyssey.

Private equity firm &Capital launched SafetyCo Partners, a health & safety services platform, and announced an initial investment / partnership with Safety Design Strategies (SDS). The deal brings SDS into the SafetyCo platform to accelerate growth, integrate services (consulting, training, rescue, inspection) and consolidate a fragmented Canadian safety services market.

LabX Media Group acquired ContractLaboratory.com, a B2B laboratory outsourcing and scientific procurement marketplace, to expand its suite of digital offerings for laboratory professionals. The acquisition brings the ContractLaboratory.com marketplace and its founder Pamela Wertalik into LabX’s portfolio to accelerate marketplace growth and better connect labs with companies, governments, and research institutions.

HKW portfolio company Culture Partners has acquired Paradigm Learning, a Seminole, Florida–based provider of instructor-led, game-based leadership development and business simulations. The add-on expands Culture Partners' offerings by integrating Paradigm's experiential learning simulations into its Culture Equation Journey; financial terms were not disclosed.

Chicago-based private equity firm Wind Point Partners has acquired Envera Systems, a Coconut Creek, Florida-headquartered provider of automated and software-enabled security, access control, visitor management and remote video monitoring solutions for homeowners associations and gated communities. Wind Point is partnering with Envera's existing management team, which will remain in place and retain a meaningful ownership stake, to scale the business geographically and expand its solutions and monitoring capabilities.

Sikich has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Accelerated Growth, a Chicago-based accounting, finance and technology consulting firm. Approximately 120 Accelerated Growth employees (50 in the U.S. and 70 in India) will join Sikich, expanding Sikich's outsourced accounting capabilities and international presence in India.

NVM Private Equity has invested to support a management buyout of Cheshire-based Inprova, a tech- and data-enabled procurement services business led by Group CEO Steve Malone. The capital will be used to further develop Inprova's technology platform and procurement analytics capabilities; senior debt for the transaction was provided by Shawbrook Bank.

Velocity Print, a northeast-based print-on-demand and direct mail services provider, announced it has acquired The Bajan Group, Inc., a New York-based print distributor and print management company. The deal brings Bajan's team and client relationships into Velocity to expand product offerings, strengthen fulfillment and mailing capabilities, and grow Velocity's client base across multiple states.

Avisa Partners has acquired Forward Risk and Intelligence LLC, a Washington, D.C.-based corporate investigations and intelligence firm. Forward Risk's 30 employees and investigative due diligence capabilities will integrate into Avisa's U.S. operations to expand the firm's global investigative, intelligence, and compliance offerings.

Broad Sky Partners, a New York-based private equity firm, has made a strategic investment in Smith + Howard through Smith + Howard Advisory LLC. The investment will fund expansion of advisory services, geographic growth, and technology initiatives as Broad Sky builds Smith + Howard as a platform for future acquisitions and growth.

Aldine Capital Partners announced investments in two U.S. businesses: Dallas-based Pond, Robinson & Associates (PR&A) — with Coltala Holdings and partners including Alta Fox — and Danbury-based PlusMedia — in a Lightview Capital-led financing with participation from Aldine, Harbert and Resolute. Coltala's investment establishes PR&A as a strategic platform to scale its nationwide commercial real-estate engineering and due-diligence services, while the Lightview-led financing will help PlusMedia expand its omnichannel performance marketing capabilities and technology.

Turnout Industries, a Chicago-based diversified holding company, announced a strategic investment in North Point Associates, an Ipswich, Massachusetts provider of investigative due diligence and proprietary research. North Point serves private equity firms, venture capital firms, corporations and campaigns; the investment will support the firm’s growth and broaden its client reach.

Bridges Fund Management has acquired a majority stake in Storetec, a Hull-based document digitisation, archive storage and cloud document management provider. The investment from Bridges' Sustainable Growth Funds will support Storetec's product and service expansion, strengthen its impact and ESG practices, and accelerate growth across the U.K. and into new markets.

Lexitas, a portfolio company of funds advised by Apax, has acquired Depo International, a Minneapolis-based court reporting and litigation support firm with an additional Las Vegas office. The deal expands Lexitas' national footprint and deepens its presence in the Midwest and West U.S. markets.

CSC (Corporation Service Company) completed the acquisition of Intertrust Group, combining the two firms' global business administration, fund and corporate services, and compliance capabilities. The combined organization will operate under the CSC brand with an expanded global footprint and integrated service offering to better serve multinational corporate and asset manager clients.

Cadmus has acquired Wheelhouse Group, a change management and organizational transformation consultancy. The deal adds Wheelhouse's nearly 100 consultants and capabilities in organizational change management, stakeholder engagement, and workforce transformation to expand Cadmus' Strategy & Transformation offerings and federal footprint.

Cobepa S.A. has acquired Ned Stevens from family office AVALT in a transaction completed with co-investment from The Jordan Company and Ned Stevens' existing management team; AVALT will remain a minority investor. Ned Stevens, founded in 1965 and headquartered in Fairfield, New Jersey, is a leading provider of exterior residential services operating in 15 states and serving over 140,000 customers; Cobepa intends to support organic and inorganic growth of the business.

ScaleCo Management LLC has made a platform investment in Total Procurement Intelligence (TPI Efficiency), a Cleveland-based energy procurement and utility consulting firm founded in 2009 by Roger Zona. The investment (ScaleCo's 22nd platform and third from Fund IV) will provide capital and operational support to expand TPI Efficiency's energy procurement, efficiency services, and LED lighting offerings nationwide.

Chicago-based private equity firm New Harbor Capital completed a growth investment in Escalon Services, a tech-enabled provider of outsourced accounting, finance, HR and risk solutions for SMBs. The partnership will support Escalon's organic growth, fund strategic acquisitions and investments in technology to scale its essential business services platform.

rockITdata has acquired Pharos Group, Inc., a Stafford, Virginia-based performance excellence consultancy. The acquisition adds 40+ consulting professionals and combines Pharos' strategy, workforce development, and operational excellence capabilities with rockITdata's AWS- and Salesforce-focused cloud and contact center solutions to expand capability and public sector offerings.

Hickey & Associates has acquired CAI Global Group to expand its site selection, incentives, data analytics, and supply chain advisory capabilities in Canada and create a unified North American service platform. CAI's leadership and customer contracts will operate under the Hickey Canada brand, with CAI's Marc Beauchamp named Managing Director of Hickey Canada.

Lexitas, a technology-enabled litigation services provider and portfolio company of funds advised by Apax, has acquired Oasis Reporting Services, a Las Vegas-based court reporting and deposition services firm. The acquisition expands Lexitas' presence in the Western U.S. and enhances its national litigation support footprint.

Cherry Bekaert has acquired Accume Partners, a risk, regulatory and cybersecurity advisory firm, from Nadavon Capital Partners. The deal expands Cherry Bekaert's internal audit, risk and compliance capabilities and strengthens its mid-Atlantic and Northeast presence to better serve financial services and other highly regulated clients.

MOREgroup, a Godspeed Capital-backed family of architecture, design and engineering brands, has acquired E4H Environments for Health Architecture. The transaction (terms not disclosed) brings E4H's healthcare and life-sciences architecture expertise into the MOREgroup platform while Keystone Capital exits its investment.

Longshore Capital Partners has completed the acquisition of Southwest Adjusters, a multi-line independent insurance claim adjusting agency headquartered in Dickinson, Texas. The investment will support Southwest Adjusters’ nationwide service offering (property, catastrophe, desk and damage appraisal claims) and position the company for organic growth and future add-on acquisitions under Longshore’s ownership.

Webb Foodservice Design Consultants has acquired Dieli Murawka Howe (DMH), a San Diego– and Las Vegas–based foodservice design firm, effective October 15, 2022. The deal expands Webb's K-12 and healthcare foodservice design capabilities and brings DMH's leadership (Richard Dieli) into Webb as a Principal.

Action Title Research, a technology-driven title research and workflow provider backed by Strattam Capital, has acquired Legal Title Services, LLC to expand its New England footprint and modernize title production. Legal Title Services will be integrated into Action Title Research's SmartSearch workflow (AES platform) to scale operations and enhance client experience.

Magna Legal Services, a portfolio company of CIVC Partners, has acquired Barkley Court Reporters, a provider of court reporting and deposition technology services. The add-on expands Magna’s litigation support capabilities and adds significant west coast coverage for its clients.

Blackford Capital has combined three of its portfolio companies—Boston Trade Interior Solutions, Design Environments, Inc., and ID Collaborative—into a single, full-service design, sourcing and installation platform operating as Design Environments. The integration centralizes design, procurement, sourcing and installation capabilities across multiple U.S. studios (Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Greensboro and San Francisco) under an expanded leadership team to drive growth and operational scale.

CIBT acquired Speedyegger Document Services, Inc., a document authentication and legalization specialist based in Alexandria, Virginia. The deal expands CIBT's document and legalization services portfolio and adds Speedyegger's client relationships and expertise to CIBT's global platform.

Vital Records Control (VRC), a portfolio company of Windjammer Capital, has acquired 2-20 Records Management to expand VRC's national footprint in records and information management. The acquisition adds multiple market locations (including Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Tampa) and enhances VRC's suite of physical and digital information management services.

Ohio-based private equity firm Stonehenge Partners has made a minority/growth investment in The Sports Facilities Companies (SFC) to support the company's expansion of services, technology, and talent. SFC will continue to be led by its co-founders and existing executive team, who will retain a significant ownership stake as the firm scales its facility management, planning, and events business across the United States.

Dallas-based Surge Private Equity closed a majority platform investment in Avalon Document Services, a technology-enabled legal services provider, in a transaction valued at approximately $36 million. Woodforest National Bank provided debt financing; Avalon founder JP Midgley retained equity and will remain as a senior executive. Avalon operates nationwide with eight regional offices, ~145 employees, and offers e-discovery, digital forensics, cybersecurity, BPO and document services to law firms and corporations.

PCF Insurance Services, a top-20 U.S. insurance brokerage headquartered in Lehi, Utah, has acquired 1 Source Business Solutions, a Salt Lake City-based professional employer organization (PEO) that provides payroll, benefits administration, HR compliance, and workers' compensation services. The acquisition expands PCF's service offering for its agency partners and enables deeper client relationships by adding complementary HR and payroll capabilities.