Acquisitions in Kentucky in 2020

Leadec, a Triton Fund IV portfolio company, acquired Diversified Automation effective December 31, 2020 to expand its parcel automation capabilities and strengthen its North American operations. Diversified Automation, headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, is an industrial automation systems integrator with ~140 experts and roughly $100 million in annual revenue that serves major parcel and e-commerce customers such as UPS, FedEx and Amazon.

Resource Environmental Solutions (RES) has acquired Redwing Ecological Services Inc., a Louisville-based ecological services firm that provides wetland, stream, and endangered species permitting and mitigation support. The Redwing team will continue operating from its Louisville office as RES expands its turnkey restoration, mitigation banking, and long-term stewardship capabilities across Kentucky and neighboring states.

Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC (MMA), the middle-market agency subsidiary of Marsh, has acquired Heritage Insurance Service, Inc., an independent insurance agency based in Louisville, Kentucky. Heritage, which has about 30 employees across five locations and specializes in trucking and transportation insurance, will join MMA to expand MMA's specialty capabilities and client reach.

American Industrial Partners (AIP) completed its purchase of the former Aleris North American automotive and common-alloy aluminum rolled products business on December 1, 2020. The divested business (renamed Commonwealth Rolled Products) includes the Lewisport, Kentucky production facility and a Madison Heights, Michigan R&D center; AIP intends to invest in and upgrade the Lewisport mill to expand its automotive body sheet capabilities.

Driven Brands Car Wash North America, part of Driven Brands, acquired two Cheetah Clean Auto Wash locations in Radcliff and Franklin, Kentucky from owner Jeff Fields. The deal expands Driven Brands' Kentucky footprint to five car wash locations as it grows its Car Wash network in the Mid‑South.

OMERS Private Equity has acquired TurnPoint Services, a Louisville-based provider of HVAC, plumbing and electrical services, from Trivest Partners. The deal expands OMERS' U.S. private equity portfolio with a high-growth, multi-brand residential services platform; terms were not disclosed.

PRIME AE Group, the cornerstone company of NewHold AEC, has acquired Integrated Engineering, a 41-person Kentucky-based engineering and surveying firm. The add-on expands PRIME AE's capabilities and geographic presence in Kentucky and surrounding regions; financial terms were not disclosed.

Verizon Communications has signed an agreement to acquire certain assets of Bluegrass Cellular, a rural wireless operator serving central Kentucky with roughly 210,000 customers across 34 counties. The transaction—subject to FCC approval—is intended to expand Verizon's footprint in Kentucky and will transition Bluegrass customers and employees to Verizon; closing was expected late 2020 or early 2021.

Life Link III, a non-profit air medical consortium, has acquired FlightBridgeED, a Bowling Green, Kentucky-based critical care and pre-hospital education provider. The acquisition will integrate FlightBridgeED's advanced certification education and training capabilities into Life Link III's clinical operations to expand and promote evidence-based critical care education across its network.

ALL4, a portfolio company of JMH Capital Partners, has acquired Smith Management Group (SMG), a Kentucky-based environmental consulting firm founded in 1989. The deal expands ALL4's geographic footprint into Kentucky and strengthens its air quality and multimedia EHS capabilities to better serve clients across heavily regulated industries.

Transplace, a logistics technology and managed transportation provider, has acquired LeanCor Supply Chain Group, a Florence, Kentucky-based leader in lean supply chain consulting, managed transportation and corporate training. The acquisition expands Transplace's capabilities in manufacturing logistics, lean process improvement and training to strengthen its logistics platform and service offerings for manufacturing-centric shippers.

Clearview Capital Fund IV and its newly formed platform Vertikal Brands recapitalized Higdon Outdoors (including Power Calls), with Higdon remaining as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vertikal Brands. The recapitalization, closed August 18, 2020, provides capital to support Higdon’s organic growth and acquisition plans while John and Ben Higdon (and Kelley Powers) remain involved and retain meaningful equity.

Roark Capital, through an affiliate, has closed an investment in Divisions Maintenance Group (DMG), a tech-enabled facilities maintenance provider headquartered in Newport, Kentucky. The partnership will provide capital and Roark's operational expertise to accelerate DMG's growth and further develop its technology and service delivery across thousands of multi-unit locations.

Main Street, Inc., a family-owned provider of data-driven print and marketing services for community financial institutions, has acquired Onovative, an automated marketing technology software provider based in Louisville, Kentucky. The acquisition adds Onovative's marketing automation and CRM capabilities to Main Street's marketing services suite and will see Onovative continue operating under its current brand with plans to expand its development team.

KMA One, Inc., a part of Local Marketing Solutions Group (LMSG), has acquired Target Marketing, a long-standing publisher of chamber-of-commerce maps and local business marketing products. The acquisition adds online mapping, locator functions, listings and printed-map publishing capabilities to KMA One/LMSG's local marketing solutions and expands their reach into 230 chambers across the U.S.

Generation Hemp, Inc. has signed definitive agreements to acquire 100% of the assets/ownership interest of Halcyon Thruput, LLC for approximately $5.1 million (paid $2.5M in restricted common stock and $2.6M in cash), with additional contingent consideration payable to the parent OZC Agriculture Ky, LP. Halcyon operates a 48,000 sq. ft. hemp post‑harvest facility in Hopkinsville, Kentucky (processing ~10,000 wet pounds/hour) and projects about $10 million revenue for calendar year 2020; the co‑founders will remain as employees under multi‑year agreements.

Whitcraft announced the acquisition of the stock of TECT Power, a manufacturer of complex rotating and structural airfoil components for turbine engines used across commercial aerospace, business jet, defense and industrial markets. The deal expands Whitcraft's manufacturing capabilities and integrates TECT Power's operations (in multiple U.S. states) into Whitcraft's platform; the purchase price and seller were not disclosed.

Pediatric Home Service (PHS) announced a partnership with RSVP Home Care and its adult division Pulmonary Partners to expand in-home pediatric and respiratory care across the Cincinnati/Kentucky region. RSVP will co-brand with PHS for 6–12 months before adopting the Pediatric Home Service name, while Pulmonary Partners will retain its existing brand and clinical teams will remain in place.

Watch Communications, a subsidiary of Benton Ridge Telephone, has acquired Q Wireless, a western Kentucky-based fixed wireless internet provider, expanding Watch’s footprint into western Kentucky and southeastern Indiana and adding roughly 2,000 residential subscribers. Phil Lambert, owner of Q Wireless, will join Watch Communications as Southern Region general manager; the deal also extends Watch’s Microsoft Airband partnership into Kentucky.

HEPACO, a Gryphon Investors–backed provider of emergency response and environmental services, has acquired Evergreen AES Environmental Services from Jerry McCandless, Kendrick McCandless, and Jennifer Lanham. The acquisition adds Evergreen AES's four regional locations and capabilities (remediation, emergency response and waste management), expanding HEPACO's footprint across the Mid-Central and Midwest and bringing the combined company to nearly 850 employees and 49 locations.

O2 Investment Partners, a Midwestern private equity firm, acquired First Class Air Support, Inc. (FCAS) and Cargo Repair, LLC, both aerospace aftermarket companies headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. Founder Isac Roths remains a significant shareholder and will continue as President and CEO; the transaction closed on January 28, 2020.

Unified Women's Healthcare has acquired the assets of Lucina Health (operating as Lucina Analytics) to integrate maternal health analytics into its services. The acquisition expands Unified's innovation platform by adding data-driven maternity risk identification and care-planning capabilities for payors and providers.