Acquisitions in Colorado in 2023

Herndon-based HawkEye 360 has acquired RF Solutions, a Westminster, Colorado business unit formerly part of Maxar Intelligence. The deal, a divestiture of Maxar's RF Solutions assets, adds two on-orbit satellites, IP, a data archive and about 11 employees to HawkEye 360, expanding its RF-spectrum scanning and analytics capabilities.

Salt Creek Capital’s portfolio company, Electronics Manufacturing Training Holding (owner of EPTAC), has acquired Blackfox Training Institute. The transaction combines EPTAC and Blackfox to form one of the largest IPC training and certification providers in the U.S., expanding in-person and online training capabilities and geographic reach.

The Riverside Company has added Miracle Method, a leading U.S. franchised provider of bath and kitchen refinishing services, as an add-on to its Threshold Brands platform. The acquisition expands Threshold Brands' home-service offerings and provides opportunities to grow franchise footprint, enter new geographies and deepen commercial relationships.

Imperial Capital’s express car wash platform, GO Car Wash, has received a growth investment from an unnamed privately-held investment firm. The capital will be used to expand GO’s footprint and scale operations across existing and new U.S. markets; GO currently operates 142 express car wash locations nationwide.

Exeter Street Capital Partners led a majority recapitalization of Creative Learning Systems, LLC (d/b/a SmartLab) in partnership with IBC Funds, Siguler Guff, and members of SmartLab's leadership team. The investment will support SmartLab's growth plans to expand its national footprint and scale its turnkey, tech-enabled STEM learning environments for K-12 schools.

Brown & Brown Dealer Services, a division of Brown & Brown, Inc., has completed the acquisition of Automotive Business Solutions (ABS), which operates as ABS Risk, LLC and ABS Operations, LLC. ABS, a Denver-based administrator of automotive aftermarket warranty products and claims, will continue to be led by CEO Michael Cox and will integrate with Brown & Brown’s Dealer Services to expand automotive F&I and warranty capabilities.

SoundHound AI has agreed to acquire SYNQ3 Restaurant Solutions for aggregate consideration of $25 million (approx. 20% cash, 80% SoundHound Class A stock) with up to $4 million of additional consideration payable over three years subject to revenue targets. The acquisition expands SoundHound's voice and conversational AI footprint in restaurants — adding over 10,000 signed locations, deepening relationships with major chains, and accelerating deployment of generative voice AI products across the restaurant industry.

Georgetown, Texas-based litigation support firm Array has acquired Denver-based Litigation Solutions Inc. (LSi), adding eDiscovery, document scanning, collections & forensics, and trial/deposition support to Array's offerings. The deal expands Array's geographic footprint into the Mountain West and broadens its litigation support capabilities for law firms, corporate counsel, and government clients.

Hub International Limited has acquired the assets of Professional Financial Specialists Inc., a Boulder-area insurance agency that provides commercial insurance, employee benefits and retirement solutions. The acquisition strengthens Hub's employee benefits and specialty healthcare insurance capabilities in Colorado; terms were not disclosed.

Denver-based private equity firm Molior Growth Partners, led by founder Ben Schnakenberg, has completed a recapitalization of Western Storage & Handling, a Denver-based designer, distributor, and installer of material handling and storage equipment. The transaction marks Molior's inaugural investment and will support Western's geographic expansion and enhancement of automated material handling capabilities while retaining existing leadership and operations in Colorado.

May River Capital, a Chicago-based private equity firm, has acquired RLE Technologies, a Fort Collins, Colorado provider of facility environment monitoring, fluid leak detection, and airflow management products. The acquisition—structured as a platform investment—will keep RLE's management team in place and positions May River to grow RLE's presence in data center and critical facilities monitoring.

Union Park Capital, a Boston-based private equity firm, has made a majority investment in HydroGeoLogica, Inc., a Golden, Colorado-based mining-focused hydrogeology and geochemistry consulting firm. HydroGeoLogica will form a new Mining Services Group within LRE Water (a Spheros Environmental company), with founders Anita Johnson and Brent Johnson continuing to lead the group.

Bioriginal, a subsidiary of Cooke Inc., has acquired Softgel Co., a Grand Junction, Colorado-based softgel and encapsulation manufacturer. The purchase expands Bioriginal’s vertical manufacturing capabilities and secures in‑house softgel production for human and pet nutrition products; terms were not disclosed.

Arcfield has completed its acquisition of Orion Space Solutions, a Colorado-based developer of end-to-end space mission capabilities. The deal expands Arcfield's capabilities in SmallSat/CubeSat design and integration, sensors and payload development, space mission operations, and data analysis to support Department of Defense and Intelligence Community missions.

Soil Nail Holdings, an investment platform affiliated with KKR, has acquired Ideal Fencing Corp. from U.S. Fence Solutions, a portfolio company of Building Industry Partners. Ideal, based in Erie, Colorado, is a fabricator and installer of highway and bridge guardrail, chain-link, and iron fencing and employs a team of just over 50 people.

Pelican Energy Partners (Base Zero LP) acquired Springs ATG from Machine Build Technologies and rebranded the business as Advanced Technology Group (ATG). Pelican made a growth equity investment alongside the existing management team to fund a plan to double capacity and support ATG’s expansion into nuclear market opportunities including life-extension projects and SMR/advanced reactors.

Colibri Group, a Gridiron Capital-backed professional education platform, has acquired TRC Healthcare (Therapeutic Research Center) from Levine Leichtman Capital Partners. TRC is a market-leading provider of evidence-based continuing education, pharmacy products and clinical simulation serving over 1 million clinicians and 3,500+ hospitals; financial terms were not disclosed.

H.W. Lochner, Inc. acquired Triunity, Inc., a Denver-based engineering, program/project management, and construction management firm, to expand Lochner's Transit & Rail and Municipal Services capabilities and establish a National Transit & Rail Practice. Triunity will operate as "Triunity, Inc., A Lochner Company" with founders Jonnie and Marvin Thomas remaining in leadership roles.

SMX, a provider of mission support and digital transformation services, has acquired Outside Analytics, a Colorado-based software engineering and data analytics firm focused on the National Security Space community. The acquisition adds geospatial analytics, sensor data processing, and visualization capabilities to SMX and expands its footprint in the national security space market; financial terms were not disclosed.

The Riverside Company has acquired Frenchies Modern Nail Care, a Littleton, Colorado–based franchisor of nail salons with more than 20 locations across multiple U.S. states. Riverside said the acquisition complements its franchising platform strategy — adding a personal care/beauty brand that can be scaled via franchise sales, marketing and geographic expansion (noted as a natural addition to Bishops Cuts/Color).

Out&Back Outdoor has acquired The Locals Sale, a curated marketplace for used ski and snowboard gear, bringing the smaller resale business and its events, inventory and warehouse into Out&Back’s platform. The deal expands Out&Back’s hard-goods offerings, consolidates fulfillment between Denver and Salt Lake City, and transitions The Locals Sale employees (including founder Jake Cohn) into Out&Back’s team to grow winter-sports inventory and events.

An affiliate of Seven Lakes Group, LLC acquired Dynamic Physical Therapy, LLC, a two-location outpatient physical therapy clinic based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The transaction closed in August 2023; the sellers were the shareholders of Dynamic Physical Therapy and the acquisition expands Seven Lakes Group’s healthcare platform presence in the region.

Choice Health at Home, a PE-backed home health and hospice operator, acquired Lumicare Hospice, expanding its hospice footprint in Texas and Arizona and establishing services in Colorado. Financial terms were not disclosed; Lumicare founder Kevin Peay will serve as president of operations for the Colorado location.

Stuart Steel Protection (owned by Integrated Utility Services) has agreed to acquire the assets of Colorado-based Northwestern Cathodic, expanding SSP's geographic footprint into Colorado and South Carolina and roughly doubling its workforce. The asset purchase will broaden SSP's corrosion-control product offerings and service capacity; Northwestern Cathodic Founder & President Chris Moore will join SSP as Chief Strategy Officer.

PERC Water Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: CWCO), acquired 100% of Ramey Environmental Compliance (REC) for $4.2 million in cash. The acquisition expands PERC/CWCO’s water and wastewater operations and regulatory compliance services into Colorado, adding REC’s ~15-person team and more than 100 municipal and district customers across the Rocky Mountains and Eastern Plains.

Vietnamese technology group FPT Corporation has acquired US-based product engineering services firm Cardinal Peak to strengthen its product engineering delivery capabilities in North America. The deal brings FPT 100 experts and a U.S. office while Cardinal Peak will remain an independent entity with access to FPT's global delivery network.

Williams Field Services Group, LLC (a subsidiary of The Williams Companies, Inc.) has signed definitive agreements to acquire Cureton Front Range LLC (Cureton Midstream) from Tailwater Capital and a fund managed by Ares Management's Private Equity Group, with an expected close in December 2023 pending regulatory approvals. Cureton is a Denver-based midstream operator with pipelines, gas processing capacity and compression assets in the DJ Basin; the deal expands Williams' asset base and regional footprint.

Dataprise, a Rockville, Maryland-based managed IT services provider and portfolio company of Trinity Hunt Partners, has acquired PEI, an IT services firm headquartered in Boulder, Colorado. The deal expands Dataprise's national footprint into Colorado, deepens its Microsoft practice expertise, and provides PEI's ~250 clients access to Dataprise's enterprise-grade managed services and cybersecurity capabilities.

Conner Industries, a Fort Worth, Texas-based industrial wood and packaging company, acquired Denver Reel & Pallet Company, a custom wooden crate and pallet manufacturer in Denver, Colorado. The acquisition adds a 20,000 sq ft facility and ~30 employees, expands Conner's footprint into the Rocky Mountain market, and brings additional foam-integration capabilities for customized industrial packaging.

Mercer Global Advisors, Inc. (Mercer Advisors), a PE-backed national RIA headquartered in Denver, acquired Singh Advisory, LLC, a Denver-based wealth management firm led by Parshad K. Singh. Singh Advisory brings approximately $60 million of AUM and a small advisor team into Mercer as an add-on to expand Mercer's Colorado presence and advisor footprint.

Tyler Technologies has acquired ResourceX, a Denver-based provider of priority-based budgeting software for the public sector. The deal integrates ResourceX's AI/ML-enabled budgeting tools into Tyler's ERP and civic product suite to expand Tyler's public-sector budgeting capabilities and provide greater transparency and efficiency for government clients.

Grupo Bimbo SAB de CV has acquired Mile Hi Bakery, a Denver-based supplier of buns and English muffins to quick-service restaurants (QSRs). The purchase, previously part of Mile Hi Companies owned by the Taddonio family, strengthens Bimbo's geographic presence in the U.S. QSR market and expands its customer access across the Rocky Mountain region and beyond.

Vector Solutions, the Tampa-based provider of training and education software, has acquired PATHWAYos, a work-based learning and Career and Technical Education (CTE) platform. The deal expands Vector's capabilities and presence in the K-12 CTE market, enabling the combined company to connect industry customers with trained student talent and offer CTE courses and industry-recognized credentials.

Waverly Advisors, a Birmingham-based registered investment adviser, has acquired Rainsberger Wealth Advisors of Colorado Springs, marking Waverly's entry into Colorado. The deal — closed October 20, 2023 — adds $302 million of AUM to Waverly and is the firm's ninth acquisition since taking equity investment from Wealth Partners Capital Group and HGGC's Aspire Holdings platform.

Webscale has acquired edge-native computing firm Section (Section.io) and integrated its technology to launch CloudFlow, an AI/ML-driven Kubernetes orchestration platform designed for smart distributed computing and cloud cost optimization. The acquisition brings Section’s engineering team into Webscale (including Section’s former CTO now Chief Product Officer) and expands Webscale’s cloud-native capabilities for ISVs, ecommerce and enterprise customers.

FMI Corporation has acquired SLATE Partners, a Denver-based M&A advisory firm focused on building materials and building services. The deal brings SLATE’s advisory talent and transaction expertise into FMI Capital Advisors, expanding FMI’s M&A capabilities and sector coverage across the built environment.

Nwestco, a Guardian Capital Partners portfolio company, has acquired Denver-founded Palmetto Environmental Group LLC. The add-on transaction, completed October 16, 2023, expands Nwestco's environmental compliance and remediation capabilities and enables cross-selling to commercial, governmental, and industrial customers; terms were not disclosed.

Funds advised by Triton have signed an agreement to back the next phase of growth for Wavelynx Technologies, with Wavelynx's co‑founders and management investing alongside Triton. Wavelynx — a developer and assembler of open, mobile‑first access control hardware and software — will become an independent Triton portfolio company as Triton supports global scaling, product development and potential M&A.

TradePending, a Capstreet-backed sales enablement and consumer experience platform for car dealerships, has acquired Fixed Ops Digital, a marketing and technology provider for dealership fixed operations. The acquisition adds Fixed Ops' SPARK website service experience platform (used by 800+ franchise dealerships in the U.S. and Canada) to TradePending's offerings; financial terms were not disclosed and Fixed Ops' management will remain in place.

Bonaccord Capital Partners, a subsidiary of P10, Inc., made a passive minority (non-control) investment in Revelstoke Capital Partners to provide long-term capital to support Revelstoke's growth and investment activity. The transaction is a strategic, growth-capital partnership and does not change Revelstoke's day-to-day management or investment process.

Axius Water, a KKR-backed water treatment platform, has acquired Triplepoint Environmental, a Colorado-based supplier of wastewater lagoon systems for rural and municipal customers. The deal expands Axius Water's lagoon technology and nutrient-management capabilities and will keep Triplepoint operating under its existing brand from its Colorado headquarters.

Nauticus Robotics (NASDAQ: KITT) agreed to acquire 3D at Depth, a Colorado-based subsea LiDAR and inspection services provider, in an all-stock transaction valuing the deal at approximately $34 million (before adjustments) and assuming about $4.1 million of debt. The acquisition brings 3D's subsea laser LiDAR technology, data services, and patent portfolio to Nauticus, expanding its autonomous underwater capabilities and commercial addressable market in offshore energy and renewables.

Sunrise Medical has completed the strategic acquisition of Ride Designs, a Denver-based maker of premium custom wheelchair seating systems. The deal expands Sunrise Medical’s seating and positioning portfolio, bringing Ride Designs’ clinical expertise, Aspen Seating Clinic services and advanced 3D printing capabilities into Sunrise’s global mobility platform.

MidWestOne Financial Group, Inc. entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Denver Bankshares, Inc., the parent company of the Bank of Denver, for $32.6 million in cash. The deal (expected to close Q1 2024) adds approximately $271.5 million in assets, $198.0 million in loans and $242.0 million in deposits and is intended to accelerate MidWestOne's expansion and scale in the Denver market.

Epiphany Dermatology has expanded its Colorado footprint by partnering with Dr. Elizabeth Piantanida and her team at SkinMD Dermatology & Skin Enhancement Center in Colorado Springs. The practice joins Epiphany’s network and will gain operational, clinical and administrative support while Epiphany benefits from the practice’s clinical expertise and local presence.

Specialty Drilling Holding Company LLC (a portfolio company of Kalbot Holding Company LLC) acquired Authentic Drilling, Inc., a Colorado-based provider of geotechnical, environmental, exploration and water well drilling services. The transaction (closed August 31, 2023) expands the SDHC platform’s service capabilities and geographic reach across the Western U.S. as the platform’s second add-on acquisition.

The Next Practices Group (NPG), an Austin-based founder-driven holding company, made a strategic investment in Denver-based communications agency 104 West Partners, adding the firm to NPG's network. Terms were not disclosed; 104 West will remain led by founder Patrick Ward and will augment NPG's B2B technology communications capabilities while expanding reach into markets including New York, Austin and London.

GEI Consultants has acquired Colorado-based Lithos Engineering, a 27-person firm specializing in tunnel, trenchless, geotechnical, and geological engineering. The acquisition expands GEI's tunneling and trenchless capabilities and adds specialized expertise to support water and infrastructure projects across the U.S.

New York-based Cogency Global Inc., backed by Bertram Capital, has acquired Westminster, Colorado-based Tax Guard, LLC from Falfurrias Capital Partners. The deal expands Cogency Global's tax risk assessment and compliance capabilities for lenders and other financial-services clients; terms were not disclosed and Raymond James served as Tax Guard's financial advisor.

Los Angeles-based Monarch Landscape Companies acquired Environmental Designs, Inc. (EDI), a Brighton, Colorado-based full-service commercial landscaping firm with additional locations in Loveland and Castle Rock. The deal is an add-on to Monarch's PE-backed platform (Audax Private Equity invested in Monarch in 2022) and expands Monarch's service density and capabilities across the greater Denver metropolitan area.