Acquisitions in North Dakota in 2024

LongWater Opportunities partnered with industry executives Randy Meyer and Brian Trammell to form Cypress Rail Solutions, a new railcar services platform. Cypress completed its first acquisition of certain railcar maintenance assets (locations in North Dakota and Minnesota) from Northern Plains Rail Services and plans further expansion across additional geographic markets to build a significant railcar services platform.

World Insurance Associates LLC acquired the insurance business of First International Insurance (a division of First International Bank & Trust) effective October 1, 2024; terms were not disclosed. FI Insurance — which operates 12 locations across North Dakota, Minnesota and Arizona and specializes in contractors, trucking, oil & gas, hospitality and agricultural lines — will operate as part of World to expand the acquirer's geographic footprint and product offerings.

Gevo, Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the ethanol production plant and carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) assets of Red Trail Energy, LLC for $210 million. The assets include a 65 million gallon per year low‑carbon ethanol facility and CCS capacity with 1 million metric tons/year potential (160,000 tpy currently utilized); the deal is expected to close in Q1 2025 and will support Gevo's SAF and carbon abatement strategy.

Cyber Advisors, a Maple Grove, Minnesota-based managed IT and cybersecurity provider and portfolio company of private equity firm Goldner Hawn, acquired Fargo-based S&L Computer Services, Inc. The deal closed March 1, 2024 and is an add-on to expand Cyber Advisors' managed services capabilities and represents its first brick-and-mortar expansion into North Dakota.

Mayfair Capital Partners (a division of Oxford Financial Group) acquired Baseline Fitness, a leading Planet Fitness franchisee with 100 clubs, in a transaction that closed February 2, 2024; terms were not disclosed. Freeman Spogli sold its majority interest but retained a significant minority stake alongside Baseline management, and Mayfair intends to support Baseline’s growth plan to expand locations from ~100 to more than 150.

Advanced Business Methods (ABM), a West Fargo, North Dakota office products and solutions company, has acquired Central Business Systems, Inc. (CBSI) of Jamestown, North Dakota. The deal adds a central North Dakota location to ABM, transitions CBSI employees into ABM's ESOP, and expands ABM's offerings to include document/electronic hardware destruction and select Kyocera dealership rights.

Sovos has acquired North Dakota-based Aatrix Software to expand its e-filing and payroll tax reporting capabilities for small and mid-sized businesses. The acquisition strengthens Sovos' coverage across W-2, 1099 and ACA 1095 reporting and integrates Aatrix's payroll forms and partner integrations into Sovos' compliance platform; terms were not disclosed.

Summit Fire Protection Co., a subsidiary of SFP Holding, Inc. (Summit Companies), acquired substantially all of the assets of Williston Fire & Safety, LLC effective January 1, 2024. The deal expands Summit's service footprint and capability in the Williston Basin by adding Williston Fire & Safety's technicians, equipment and local customer relationships.