Sterling Investment Partners Announces Sale of HeartLand to Pritzker Private Capital

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Dec 14, 2023, 07:00 ET

WESTPORT, Conn., Dec. 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sterling Investment Partners ("Sterling"), a Westport, CT based leading middle market private equity firm investing in distribution and business services companies, today announced that it had closed the sale of its HeartLand portfolio company to Pritzker Private Capital ("PPC").

Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Kansas City, HeartLand is a leading U.S. commercial landscaping company with 4,000+ employees and 60+ branches providing a comprehensive suite of non-discretionary property maintenance services throughout 26 states serving a broad range of commercial end markets. HeartLand operates through 18 local operating companies who are leaders in their respective markets, with strong brand reputations for high-quality work, responsiveness, reliability, excellent communication and sustaining long-term client relationships. By selectively investing in top regional providers, HeartLand has created a diverse platform that combines the power of a pre-eminent local service model with the financial resources, integrated systems, technical and developmental resources of a progressive industry leader. HeartLand's leadership team includes Founder and Chief Executive Officer Edward Schatz Jr, Chief Operations Officer Bill Dellecker, Chief Financial Officer Peter Welch, and Chief Development Officer Rob McDonnell, who have decades of experience building successful businesses within the commercial landscape industry. For more information, please visit www.HeartLandcompany.com.

Ed Schatz, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of HeartLand, said, "In partnership with Sterling, we've built a scalable national landscape services platform, establishing ourselves as an acquirer of choice in the industry while continuing to be a trusted service provider for our customers. Our shared vision and strategic early investments in people, processes and systems have fueled our exponential growth and I'm very proud of what we've accomplished in just over 4 years together. Sterling has been an ideal partner and we're incredibly appreciative of their mentorship and support on this journey, and are excited to continue the next phase of our growth with PPC."

Charles Santoro, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Sterling, said, "Sterling is extremely proud of our partnership with HeartLand and for management's steadfast devotion to providing quality service to their customers as well as to the safety, training, development, and overall well-being of their employees. We have built a dynamically growing and industry-leading platform through a combination of successful organic and M&A initiatives. HeartLand is extremely well positioned for ongoing success in their new partnership with PPC, an organization with a very strong reputation, track record and history of building great businesses."

James Soldano, Partner of Sterling, added, "We are truly grateful for the partnership with HeartLand over the past few years. It has been a pleasure working with such a talented and motivated management team to build HeartLand into one of the leading national providers of commercial landscape services. We wish them the best with their new partners at PPC."

Piper Sandler served as lead financial advisor, while Solomon Partners and CCG Advisors served as co-financial advisors, to HeartLand, and Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP served as legal adviser to HeartLand and Sterling.

About Sterling Investment Partners

Sterling Investment Partners is a private equity firm that has been investing in and building middle-market companies for over 32 years with a highly-experienced, cohesive team of senior investment professionals. Sterling acquires businesses that the firm believes have strong, sustainable competitive advantages and significant opportunities for value creation. Over its history, Sterling has completed over 220 transactions, representing approximately $30 billion in aggregate value. The key sectors Sterling focuses on are distribution and business services. For more information, please visit www.sterlinglp.com.

SOURCE Sterling Investment Partners