Little Rock, Ark.-based private investment firm The Stephens Group announced it has made a minority investment in the formation of Exigent, a mission-critical repair, maintenance, and replacement service platform launched recently by Detroit’s Huron Capital. Terms of the investment were not disclosed.
The investment was made in support of Huron’s controlling investment in the company. Exigent will focus on highly technical mechanical services in the built environment such as HVAC, plumbing, power, and energy efficiency for large facility operations for education, health care, industrial, government, and commercial customers.
Exigent’s launch coincides with its first partnership, American Combustion Industries Inc. (ACI), a critical system repair and maintenance business located in Glenn Dale, Md., which focuses on boilers, chillers, plumbing, and other complex, technical services within a wide range of facilities. ACI’s owner and president Tim Kirlin will maintain an equity stake in Exigent and will join the company’s growing executive team.
“Tim and the ACI team have a built a business known not only for its critical repair and maintenance services offering, but also for the service-first mentality it provides to its customers,” says Grant Jones, a managing director at The Stephens Group. “We think very highly of Huron and their deep experience and expertise in the facilities services space. We are looking forward to working together to grow the Exigent platform.”
ACI’s skilled union technicians and its model for providing high-quality, reliable, and largely non-discretionary services focused on complex systems are some of the core attributes Exigent will look for in future business partners.
“For nearly 90 years, partnership has been a key principle of the Stephens family’s investment strategy, and this extends not only to entrepreneurs and management teams but also to our peers,” says Allie Laborde, a principal at The Stephens Group. “We are excited to partner with the Huron and ACI teams to build a market leader in the mechanical services space.”
