Acquisitions in Arkansas in 2019

On December 23, 2019 Prairie Capital VI, LP partnered with Rising Point Capital to acquire Fairway Lawns, a Little Rock-based provider of residential lawn treatment and pest control services. The investment backed a buyout of the company’s founders and supported management to accelerate growth through investments in people, sales and marketing, infrastructure, and add-on acquisitions; at the time Fairway served over 40,000 customers from 12 lawn-treatment and 2 pest-control locations across six states.

GI Alliance announced a partnership with GastroArkansas, bringing the Little Rock-based gastroenterology practice into GI Alliance's network and establishing the organization's presence in Arkansas. The deal adds 12 physicians and their staff to GI Alliance's platform as part of its targeted geographic expansion across the South-Central U.S.

The Sterling Group, a Houston-based private equity firm, announced an investment in Bad Boy, Inc., a Batesville, Arkansas manufacturer of high-performance zero-turn riding lawn mowers. The deal partners Sterling with founder Phil Pulley to support Bad Boy's continued growth and expansion of its dealer and retail distribution.

FleetPride, Inc. has acquired the assets of Commercial Truck Services (CTS), which operates locations in Little Rock and Conway, Arkansas. The founding owners — Joel and Lana Foster and Darryl and Jaci Birdsong — will remain onboard to support integration while FleetPride expands parts and service capabilities in the Little Rock market.

Windjammer Capital Investors’ portfolio company Mission Critical Electronics (MCE) has acquired Purkeys Fleet Electric, a North American developer, manufacturer, and distributor of electric power solutions for truck fleets, liftgate and trailer manufacturers, dealers, and OEMs. The add-on strengthens MCE’s Vehicle Power business by expanding its aftermarket product portfolio and capabilities in vehicle electrification; financial terms were not disclosed.

Newterra Group has acquired TIGG, a manufacturer of activated carbon adsorption equipment and provider of liquid and vapor treatment solutions, effective October 8, 2019. The deal expands Newterra's manufacturing capacity and treatment capabilities, strengthening its reach into municipal, industrial and environmental remediation markets.

ACS American Construction Source (backed by Angeles Equity Partners and Clearlake Capital) acquired Contractor's Truss Systems, a Cotter, Arkansas-based engineered wood products manufacturer. The acquisition — the fifth for ACS in 11 months — adds a 40,000 sq. ft. component manufacturing facility to ACS's platform to expand component manufacturing capacity and better serve builders and contractors in the Ozarks region.

St. Cloud Capital made a growth capital investment in Little Rock-based AR HIIT, LLC, an Orangetheory Fitness franchisee, to help fund the acquisition by Rock Ridge Growth Partners, LLC. The company operates seven Orangetheory studios in Arkansas and holds development rights to open seven additional studios to support further expansion.

Grain Management signed a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in Ritter Communications from E. Ritter and Company, with the Ritter family retaining board positions. The investment will support accelerated growth and fiber network expansion across Ritter's service area; the deal is subject to customary regulatory approvals and was expected to close in Q4 2019 (financial terms not disclosed).

Brady Industries, a portfolio company of A&M Capital Partners II (Alvarez & Marsal Capital), acquired a majority interest in Datek, Inc., a regional distributor of cleaning equipment and janitorial supplies headquartered in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The acquisition expands Brady’s geographic footprint to the East, enhances its supplier network, and adds ecommerce capabilities via Datek’s sweepscrub.com and stockmycloset.com platforms while diversifying end-market exposure into long-term care, commercial real estate and education.

Arsenal Capital Partners has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a controlling interest in Revolution, a Little Rock-based manufacturer of sustainable, closed-loop plastic products. The Stephens Group concurrently invested a significant minority stake to support Arsenal's investment; Revolution’s founder Dhu Thompson and CEO Sean Whiteley will remain investors and board members. Terms were not disclosed.

Aalberts N.V. has acquired Applied Process, a specialty heat-treating company focused on austempering, from High Street Capital. Applied Process will remain an entity within Aalberts' Material Technology / Surface Technologies business and retain its brand and management team following the sale, which marks an exit for High Street Capital.

Blue Point Capital Partners and its Blue Point IV portfolio company, TAS Environmental Services, acquired Frac‑N‑Vac Tanks and Duckwater Services, a regional provider of roll‑off boxes, transportation, washout and wastewater disposal services. These are TAS’s first two add‑on acquisitions since Blue Point acquired the TAS platform in May 2019 and expand TAS’s geographic footprint across Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Tennessee.

Denver-based private equity firm Mountaingate Capital completed a strategic investment in RevUnit, a Bentonville-based digital strategy and product studio. The capital injection will support RevUnit’s organic growth and Mountaingate’s buy-and-build strategy to accelerate growth through strategic add-on acquisitions.

By Light Professional IT Services LLC acquired Metova Federal, a provider of cyber range and cyber training services to U.S. government customers. The add-on strengthens By Light's cyber and intel offerings and expands its CyberCENTS cyber training and exercise capabilities; financial terms were not disclosed.

Arlington Capital Partners completed the carve-out acquisition of Triumph Group’s forming and fabrication facilities and launched the business as Radius Aerospace, Inc. The deal creates a pure‑play aerospace forming and fabrication platform serving OEM and Tier‑1 aerospace & defense customers, with plans for organic growth and strategic add‑ons.