Houston, TX March 05, 2025
The Sterling Group (“Sterling”), a middle market private equity firm, announced today that it has completed the sale of Frontline Road Safety (“Frontline” or the “Company”) to Bain Capital. Frontline is the largest provider of pavement marking and ancillary services in the U.S. Financial terms of the private transaction were not disclosed.
Headquartered in Denver with over 50 locations across the U.S., Frontline specializes in providing essential, non-discretionary road marking and other roadway safety services to keep our nation’s most critical infrastructure safe and operational. Frontline leverages the knowledge and execution of its regional businesses alongside the benefits of national scale to deliver superior service to its customers.
Sterling launched the Frontline platform in 2020 with the near-simultaneous acquisitions of three founder-led regional pavement marking firms. Sterling recruited Mitch Williams, the CEO of a previous Sterling portfolio company, to lead the newly formed management team. Nate Reeve, a member of the Sterling investment team, moved to Denver for a year to assist in establishing the corporate headquarters function and the infrastructure required to build and scale Frontline. During Sterling’s ownership, Frontline completed nineteen total acquisitions, seventeen of which were of family or entrepreneur-owned businesses. Sterling’s experience partnering with family sellers and history of sharing economics with employees were important factors in building Frontline.
“Since launching the Frontline platform in 2020, Sterling has been proud to support the Company’s tremendous growth and expansion,” said Brad Staller, Partner at Sterling. “We would like to thank Mitch, the excellent field leaders, and the entire Frontline team for their leadership and partnership in building Frontline. We believe the Company remains well-positioned to continue expanding its services and geographic footprint.”
Harris Williams LLC and Guggenheim Securities, LLC served as financial advisors, and Latham & Watkins LLP served as legal advisor to Frontline Road Safety. Stifel and UBS Investment Bank acted as financial advisors, and Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal advisor to Bain Capital.
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About Frontline Road Safety
Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Frontline Road Safety Group is the nation’s largest provider of pavement marking services. Frontline proudly serves a wide variety of customers and industries, including airports, government agencies, public highways, roads, and private corporations. Committed to a deep local operational leadership strategy, Frontline’s team members have decades of industry experience and technical expertise at every level. Through a team of best-in-class local operating companies, Frontline serves customers across the United States. These companies have an unmatched reputation and average of over forty years of successful experience building long-term relationships with their customers.
About The Sterling Group
Founded in 1982, The Sterling Group is a private equity and private credit investment firm that targets investments in basic manufacturing, distribution, and industrial services companies. Typical enterprise values of these companies at initial formation range from $100 million to $750 million. Sterling has sponsored the buyout of 73 platform companies and numerous add-on acquisitions for a total transaction value of over $25 billion. Sterling currently has $9.2 billion of assets under management. For further information, please visit www.sterling-group.com.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results and all investments are subject to loss.
Houston, TX February 07, 2025
The Sterling Group (“Sterling”), a Houston-based, operationally focused middle market private equity firm, is pleased to announce four internal promotions: Nate Reeve to Director; Annika Ward to Director, Management Company Accounting; Vincent Gennaro to Principal; and Nikhil Nayak to Principal, Commercial Diligence & Strategy.
“As a firm, our success is built on the dedication and talent of our incredible team. We are thrilled to celebrate those being promoted for their hard work, growth, and achievements. These promotions reflect not only their individual commitment but also the collective strength of our team,” said Brad Staller, Partner at The Sterling Group.
To learn more about a career at The Sterling Group, please visit www.sterling-group.com/careers/ or contact Claudine Lussier at clussier@sterling-group.com.
About The Sterling Group
Founded in 1982, The Sterling Group is a private equity and private credit investment firm that targets investments in basic manufacturing, distribution, and industrial services companies. Typical enterprise values of these companies at initial formation range from $100 million to $750 million. Sterling has sponsored the buyout of 73 platform companies and numerous add-on acquisitions for a total transaction value of over $25 billion. Sterling currently has $9.2 billion of assets under management. For further information, please visit www.sterling-group.com.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results and all investments are subject to loss.
Houston, TX January 10, 2025
The Sterling Group, a Houston-based middle market private equity firm, is pleased to announce that its portfolio company, Tangent Technologies (“Tangent” or “the Company”), has appointed Kevin Potthoff as Chief Executive Officer. Tangent is a leading manufacturer of high-density polyethylene (“HDPE”) synthetic lumber used for outdoor living, site amenities, structural applications, and marine decking.
Kevin has over twenty-five years of sales, operational, and leadership experience in engineered materials and building products manufacturing. Prior to joining Tangent, Kevin was CEO of Allura Fiber Cement Products, where he previously held roles as General Manager and Vice President of Sales. Prior to Allura, Kevin held sales roles at CertainTeed Corporation, James 5Hardie Building Products, and Louisiana Pacific Corporation. Throughout his career, Kevin has established a reputation for strategic vision and for transforming manufacturing businesses through operational optimization, revenue growth, and customer experience enhancement.
Guy De Feo, Tangent’s retiring founder and CEO, noted, “We took time to search for the right leader to move the company forward and who has the experience and is passionate about what we do with a high desire to win – I have no doubt that, under Kevin’s leadership, we will achieve even greater heights.” John Griffin, Partner at The Sterling Group, added “We are thrilled to welcome Kevin to Tangent – he brings extensive engineered materials experience that will help drive continued innovation and scaling of our synthetic lumber products.”
ABOUT TANGENT TECHNOLOGIES
Headquartered in Aurora, Illinois, Tangent is a leading manufacturer of synthetic lumber used for outdoor living, site amenities, structural applications, and marine decking. In recent years, synthetic lumber has become a leading substitute for traditional fabrication materials in outdoor living products and other applications given its durability and aesthetics. Tangent uses a combination of post-consumer and post-industrial recycled waste streams as primary raw materials.
ABOUT THE STERLING GROUP
Founded in 1982, The Sterling Group is a private equity and private credit investment firm that targets investments in basic manufacturing, distribution, and industrial services companies. Typical enterprise values of these companies at initial formation range from $100 million to $750 million. Sterling has sponsored the buyout of 73 platform companies and numerous add-on acquisitions for a total transaction value of over $25 billion. Sterling currently has $9.2 billion of assets under management. For further information, please visit www.sterling-group.com.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results and all investments are subject to loss.
Houston, TX December 19, 2024
The Sterling Group, a Houston-based,
operationally focused middle market private equity firm, is pleased to announce that
John Griffin and Claudine Lussier have been promoted to Partner.
“We are excited to recognize the extraordinary contributions of John and Claudine,” said
Brad Staller, Partner at The Sterling Group. “Each has played a critical part in Sterling’s
success to date. We are thrilled to celebrate their accomplishments and welcome them
as Partners.”
John Griffin, Partner, joined Sterling in 2018 from McKinsey & Company’s Houston
office where he focused on strategic and operational initiatives for industrial and energy
companies. John has been a leader on the PrimeFlight Aviation, West Star Aviation,
Fencing Supply Group, Tangent Technologies, and Lynx FBO Network investment
teams. John has also been a key member of the firm’s Operations Committee, which
drives continuous improvement in Sterling’s own value creation capabilities.
Claudine Lussier, Partner, Human Capital, joined Sterling in 2017 to lead Human Capital
at Sterling and its portfolio companies. During Claudine’s time at Sterling, she has
contributed to a significant build-out of the team and has driven a dramatic improvement
in Sterling’s ability to drive value creation through the Human Capital lever. Claudine is a
critical business partner to investment teams and management teams alike.
To learn more about a career at The Sterling Group, please visit
www.sterling-group.com/careers/
About The Sterling Group
Founded in 1982, The Sterling Group is a private equity and private credit investment
firm that targets investments in basic manufacturing, distribution, and industrial services
companies. Typical enterprise values of these companies at initial formation range from
$100 million to $750 million. Sterling has sponsored the buyout of 73 platform
companies and numerous add-on acquisitions for a total transaction value of over $24
billion. Sterling currently has $9.4 billion of assets under management. For further
information, please visit www.sterling-group.com.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results and all investments are subject to
loss.
EAST ALTON, IL September 12, 2024
West Star Aviation is proud to announce the completion of its newest hangar at the East Alton facility. In addition, West Star Aviation Academy (WSAA), established in January 2024 by West Star Aviation in partnership with Southwestern Illinois College (SWIC), proudly celebrated the graduation of its inaugural class of 23 students. Over the past several years, West Star has made meaningful investments to expand its facilities and its team to support significant growth and excellent customer service.
The new hangar, officially named Hangar 67, adds 75,700 square feet of space, including 40,000 square feet of dedicated hangar space and 35,700 square feet of support space for the company’s advanced modification capabilities. In addition to providing a significant increase in available hangar space, the expansion enhances West Star’s capacity for interior, avionics, and sheet metal services, while enabling the implementation of cutting-edge production technologies, including a new state-of-the-art design center. With the completion of the new hangar, West Star’s network encompasses 1.5 million square feet of hangar space across the US.
West Star Aviation Academy represents the company’s innovative approach to addressing the Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) shortage. WSAA stands out as the only aviation program of its kind, where individuals are carefully screened, interviewed, and hired into a full-time, paid position. Participants are required to complete a customized Part 147 Airframe maintenance curriculum in a dedicated West Star classroom and learning hangar during their first 7.5 months of employment. Unlike other programs that demand balancing full-time work with night classes or learning on the job, WSAA enables apprentices to fully focus on developing the skills and knowledge essential for a successful aviation career. As a result, graduates are exceptionally prepared to join operations with hands-on experience working with West Star’s aircraft, systems, manuals, and procedures. West Star is pleased to announce the second class of students has recently started at the company with expected graduation in spring 2025.
About West Star Aviation
With more than 77 years of industry experience, West Star Aviation stands as a leading independent Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) provider. Employing over 3,000 professionals, West Star offers comprehensive services from our strategically located full-service facilities in East Alton, IL; Grand Junction, CO; Chattanooga, TN; Millville, NJ; Perryville, MO; and Statesville, NC, as well as satellite locations in Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Chicago, and West Palm Beach. The company’s extensive capabilities encompass maintenance, paint, interior, and avionics services, supported by the largest Aircraft On Ground (AOG) network in the country, ensuring prompt and reliable mobile repair services nationwide.
Dallas, Texas July 08, 2024
The Sterling Group, an industrial focused middle market private equity firm, announced the addition of Jonathan Jackson as Managing Director of Foundation Fund, the firm’s lower middle market strategy.
Jonathan Jackson joins Sterling from Sun Capital Partners, where he spent thirteen years focused on middle market investing in a variety of services, industrial and food sectors. “Jonathan is a key addition to Foundation Fund’s senior leadership team,” said Lucas Cutler, Partner. Foundation Fund launched in 2023 to apply Sterling’s experience and operational capabilities by partnering with industrial companies in the lower middle market.
In addition, Sterling Foundation Fund has completed the acquisition of founder-owned OGD Overhead Garage Door (“OGD”), a provider of repair, replacement and installation services in the overhead door and dock industry. Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, OGD serves a large and growing base of commercial and residential overhead door and dock customers with installation and repair and replacement services. “We look forward to leveraging Sterling’s industry expertise and operational capabilities to continue to expand OGD,” said Bret Westbrook, founder and CEO of OGD.
Sterling has extensive experience partnering with founders to build residential and commercial service businesses. OGD is the fourth acquisition for Sterling Foundation Fund. Each partnership to date has been with founder owned businesses.
Adams Street Partners’ Private Credit investment strategy provided senior debt financing and an equity co-investment in support of the acquisition.
McDermott Will & Emery LLP served as legal counsel and HamptonRock Financial Advisory, LLC served as a financial due diligence advisor to The Sterling Group.
BlackArch Partners served as exclusive financial advisor to OGD Overhead Garage Door.
About OGD
OGD is a provider of repair, replacement and installation services in the overhead door and dock industry. OGD operates in 45 MSAs across the Southeast, Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and the Mountain West regions. OGD is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas.
About The Sterling Group Foundation Fund
Founded in 1982, The Sterling Group is a private equity and private credit investment firm that targets investments in basic manufacturing, distribution, and industrial services companies. Typical enterprise values of these companies at initial formation range from $100 million to over $1 billion. Sterling has sponsored the buyout of 72 platform companies and numerous add-on acquisitions for a total transaction value of over $24.0 billion. Sterling recently closed its sixth investment fund with $3.5 billion in commitments and currently has $9.4 billion of assets under management. Launched in 2023, The Sterling Foundation Fund aims to leverage the firm’s operational capabilities and experience in the industrial sector to “set the foundation” for growth at lower middle market companies. For further information, please visit www.sterling-group.com.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results and all investments are subject to loss.
Houston, TX April 22, 2024
The Sterling Group (“Sterling”), an operationally focused, industrial middle market private equity firm, is pleased to announce the closing of Sterling Group Partners VI, LP (together with its parallel fund, “Fund VI”). Fund VI exceeded its target of $2.75 billion and was significantly oversubscribed at its hard cap of $3.5 billion. Sterling’s previous fund closed in June 2020 with $2.0 billion of limited partner commitments.
The majority of Fund VI’s capital was committed by returning investors. Sterling welcomes several new investors that expand the firm’s Limited Partner base in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. “Sterling has a four-decade track record of value creation across the economic cycle,” added Franny Jones, Partner, Investor Relations. “The secular tailwinds underpinning today’s industrial middle market, when combined with our proven Seven Lever value creation strategy, present tremendous opportunities for Fund VI.”
Consistent with Sterling’s successful history over four decades, Fund VI will primarily target corporate carve-outs and family businesses in the industrial sector. The firm emphasizes its operational approach in partnership with management teams to grow and improve its portfolio companies. Sterling’s partner group, including Greg Elliott, Brian Henry, Scott MacLaren, Brad Staller, Kent Wallace, Jim Apple, Franny Jones and Jud Morrison have a collective 100-plus years working at Sterling.
Evercore Private Funds Group acted as the exclusive global placement agent, and Kirkland and Ellis, LLP served as fund counsel.
About The Sterling Group
Founded in 1982, The Sterling Group is a private equity and private credit investment firm that targets investments in basic manufacturing, distribution, and industrial services companies. Typical enterprise values of these companies at initial formation range from $100 million to $750 million. Sterling has sponsored the buyout of 71 platform companies and numerous add-on acquisitions for a total transaction value of over $24 billion. Sterling currently has $9.4 billion of assets under management. For further information, please visit www.sterling-group.com.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results and all investments are subject to loss.
April 08, 2024
The Sterling Group (“Sterling”), a Houston-based, operationally focused middle market private equity firm, is pleased to announce that the Firm has been ranked #12 out of over 632 middle market private equity firms globally in the 2023 HEC-Dow Jones Middle Market Buyout Performance ranking.
Sterling has been partnering with management teams to grow and build winning businesses in the industrial sector for over forty years. “Sterling is honored to be ranked among the top performing private equity firms worldwide,” said Brian Henry, Partner at The Sterling Group. “This recognition by HEC-Dow Jones attests to the strength of our hands-on operational approach and intensive application of our Seven Levers methodology, driving strong results for our portfolio companies and our investors.” For more information, including the full ranking, criteria and methodology, please view the full report here.
The 2023 HEC Paris – DowJones Middle Market Buyout Performance Ranking seeks to answer the question: “Which firm(s) in the Middle Market Buyout segment generated the best performance for their investors over the past years?” The ranking analyzed performance data from 632 PE firms and the 1241 funds they raised between 2010 and 2019 with an aggregate equity volume of $2.18 trillion. The HEC-DowJones Ranking draws on private equity fund performance data provided by Preqin and data reported directly to HEC-DowJones.
About The Sterling Group
Founded in 1982, The Sterling Group is a private equity and private credit investment firm that targets investments in basic manufacturing, distribution, and industrial services companies. Typical enterprise values of these companies at initial formation range from $100 million to $750 million. Sterling has sponsored the buyout of 67 platform companies and numerous add-on acquisitions for a total transaction value of over $22.0 billion. Sterling currently has over $5.9 billion of assets under management. For further information, please visit www.sterling-group.com.
HEC Paris and Dow Jones (“HEC-Dow Jones”) released the 2023 HEC Paris-DowJones Middle Market Buyout Performance Ranking (the “Report”) on March 6, 2024. The Report is based on information sourced from Preqin and data reported directly by certain participants in the rankings described in the Report. The Sterling Group provided certain information to HEC-Dow Jones in connection with the preparation of the Report, which addresses certain middle-market buyout fund sponsors and fund vintage years of 2010-2019. The Report ultimately represents the opinion of HEC-Dow Jones and not of The Sterling Group. Neither HEC-Dow Jones nor The Sterling Group has independently verified or assessed the information provided by other parties in connection with the preparation of the Report. In addition, the methodology used by HEC-Dow Jones is subject to inherent limitations due to the confidential nature of the private equity industry, different vintage years, strategies or investment objectives of private equity firms and different performance measures used by such firms. The Sterling Group pays an annual subscription fee to Preqin for access to certain data but did not compensate Preqin or HEC-Dow Jones to be considered for, or ultimately receive, any ranking described in the Report. There can be no assurance that other providers or surveys would reach the same conclusion as the foregoing. The Sterling Group makes no representations or warranties as to accuracy, completeness or reliability of information contained in the Report. Information relating to the Report and its methodology is available here.
Houston, TX February 23, 2024
The Sterling Group (“Sterling”), a middle market private equity firm, announced today that it has completed the sale of Evergreen North America Industrial Services (“Evergreen”) to Quanta Services. Evergreen is a leading provider of specialized and recurring environmental solutions for a diverse range of blue-chip industrial businesses and mission critical infrastructure.
Sterling created Evergreen through the combination of family owned, New York based North American Industrial Services and Houston based Evergreen Environmental Services. Since the combination, Evergreen has continued to expand its footprint and grow its ability to serve customers with its solutions nationally. Combined with Quanta Services leadership in specialty infrastructure solutions, Evergreen is poised to continue its track record of delivering the highest quality services to its customers.
Latham & Watkins served as legal counsel and BlackArch Partners served as financial advisor to Evergreen and Sterling.
About Evergreen North America Industrial Services
Evergreen is a leading provider of environmental solutions to the downstream and midstream energy, industrial, and chemical sectors. With a customer-centric culture and employees committed to safety, integrity, accountability and adaptability, Evergreen serves a diverse set of end markets, including refining, power generation, petrochemical, manufacturing, mining, waste-to-energy, and pulp & paper at locations throughout North America. Additional information about Evergreen is available at www.enais.com.
About The Sterling Group
Founded in 1982, The Sterling Group is a private equity and private credit investment firm that targets investments in basic manufacturing, distribution, and industrial services companies. Typical enterprise values of these companies at initial formation range from $100 million to $1 billion. Sterling has sponsored the buyout of 67 platform companies and numerous add-on acquisitions for a total transaction value of over $22 billion. Sterling currently has over $6 billion of assets under management. For further information, please visit www.sterling-group.com.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results and all investments are subject to loss.
Houston, TX February 20, 2024
The Sterling Group (“Sterling”), a Houston-based, operationally focused middle market private equity firm, is pleased to announce eight internal promotions: John Griffin and Meghan Leggett to Managing Director; Jared North to Managing Director, Business Development; Johann Friese to Director; Anu George to Director, Fund Accounting; Aryan Sameri to Director, Commercial Diligence & Strategy; Jacob Broom to Principal, Private Credit; and Patrick Vocke to Principal.
In addition, Jenny Harris, current Managing Director, Private Credit, has been named Managing Director, Capital Markets for all of Sterling’s investment strategies.
“Since 1982, Sterling has been building winning businesses for customers, employees, and investors, and this would not be possible without a team of highly skilled and passionate individuals such as the ones being recognized here. We are proud to celebrate those who have been promoted for their contributions to the firm,” said Brad Staller, Partner at The Sterling Group.
To learn more about a career at The Sterling Group, please visit www.sterling-group.com/careers/ or contact Claudine Lussier at clussier@sterling-group.com.
About The Sterling Group
Founded in 1982, The Sterling Group is a private equity and private credit investment firm that targets investments in basic manufacturing, distribution, and industrial services companies. Typical enterprise values of these companies at initial formation range from $100 million to $750 million. Sterling has sponsored the buyout of 67 platform companies and numerous add-on acquisitions for a total transaction value of over $22.0 billion. Sterling currently has over $6.0 billion of assets under management. For further information, please visit www.sterling-group.com.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results and all investments are subject to loss.
Press releases and articles published prior to November 4, 2022 are being provided for informational purposes only and are not intended as advertising.
The Sterling Group is an operationally focused middle market private equity firm that builds winning businesses for customers, employees and investors.
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