Mike Rothman, Founder and Chairman of SMS Assist, Remarks on Strategic Impact of $2.25 Billion Proptech Merger

-- Lessen + SMS Assist Creates Leading High-Tech Services Management Platform for Residential and Commercial Properties; Accelerates Growth of Rothman's Second Avenue Investment Platform --

TAMPA, Fla., Jan. 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Mike Rothman, CEO of Second Avenue Group ('Second Avenue'), a full-service, institutional quality single-family rental ('SFR') platform, today explained how the recent acquisition of SMS Assist by Lessen will strengthen Second Avenue's capabilities and unlock significant value for the company's partners and growing institutional client base. Rothman, who founded SMS Assist 25 years ago and served as CEO for two-decades, has continued to serve as Chairman of SMS Assist and came together with Lessen CEO and Founder Jay McKee to help unlock the synergies of this recent merger.    

With a combined valuation north of $2 billion, SMS and Lessen's merged platform is the leading tech-enabled property services management marketplace, and the only commercial solution that enables orchestration, sourcing and fulfillment of all property services at scale. Lessen's McKee will step into the role of leading the combined company, with Rothman as a Board Observer, which will serve a national footprint of approximately 250,000 residential and commercial properties and facilitate approximately 2.5 million repair and maintenance orders per year – in tandem with bolstering a broader range of property services. 

In addition to Second Avenue, several well-known private and public investors (including legacy Second Avenue investors) participated in the Lessen/SMS transaction. Monroe Capital, Varde Partners, Koch Real Estate Investments, and Fifth Wall (among others) provided both debt and equity. For Monroe Capital, who invested $250 million into the Second Avenue platform last spring, their stake in the Lessen/SMS merger marks their second major investment in connection with Rothman in less than one year.

The merger represents a significant professional milestone for Rothman who has founded and led multiple companies, including SMS Assist (1997) and, more recently, Second Avenue (2017). The vertically-integrated company currently operates and manages more than 2,500 single family rental homes located throughout the central and southeastern U.S. Since its inception, Second Avenue has deployed nearly $1 billion on acquisitions through 2023. 

With an average tenure of more than 25 years, Second Avenue is led by a team of seasoned SFR veterans and pioneers who are bringing to market clean, safe and functional homes through Second Avenue’s full-service, institutional quality single-family rental ("SFR") platform. 

Due to record-setting millennial migration and household formation trends, SFR renter demographics are expected to continue to attract investors for the foreseeable future. In addition, with interest rates and inflation both on the rise, households of varying demographics will continue to rent single family homes as opposed to buying them.

"This is the largest proptech deal to be announced in several months, and it also came together at a time when very few if any large transactions are getting done - across the board, in any industry," said Rothman. "What's even more exciting is where we go from here. In 2014, we sought to solve the problem large SFR's had with single-family home maintenance along with investing in dedicated sector technology. Today, I see there is significant future upside for the Second Avenue platform as the SFR arena continues to expand."

The opportunity for new Second Avenue investors is considerable, too: With less than five percent of the SFR industry currently owned by institutional investors, the asset class is poised for continued growth and new investment from strategic institutional capital well into the future.

About Second Avenue

Discover the joy of renting with Second Avenue, the next-gen single-family rental investing platform. Second Avenue provides sought-after rental homes for today's families and compelling risk-adjusted returns in single family rental (SFR) property portfolios for institutional investors. Bringing exceptional discipline, tech simplicity, and professional property acquisition and management to the industry, Second Avenue makes SFR renting and investing easier and better than ever. Discover the simplicity and possibility of Second Avenue homes and investing. With ~$1 billion under management, Second Avenue is privately held and headquartered in Tampa, Florida with regional teams throughout the United States.

For more information about Second Avenue, visit: www.secondavenue.com

SOURCE Second Avenue

WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM?

440k+
Newsrooms &
Influencers

9k+
Digital Media
Outlets

270k+
Journalists
Opted In

GET STARTED