Rockbridge Growth Equity, a middle-market private equity firm in Detroit, has sold Kings III of America, a provider of elevator and pool emergency monitoring solutions based in Coppell, Texas. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Kings III, which serves the U.S. and Canada, was sold to Arcline Investment Management, which has offices in New York, San Francisco, and Nashville.
Kings III designs, engineers, and manufactures its monitoring equipment. It also operates a 24/7 emergency dispatch center staffed with certified emergency responders. With more than two decades of service, Kings III is a “critical enabler of the elevator infrastructure in the U.S. and Canada,” according to Rockbridge.
“We’re pleased with this terrific outcome, which is a result of executing on the value creation plan we developed with management at the time of our initial investment,” says Steve Linden, a partner at Rockbridge.
“The company’s transformation under our five-year ownership is a testament to management’s impressive ability to execute on an ambitious growth plan while maintaining an unwavering level of service quality and mission-critical support its customers. We are confident Kings III is well-positioned for further expansion, and we wish them the best of luck in the future.”
Under Rockbridge’s sponsorship, Kings III completed several major strategic initiatives. These include recruiting key additions to the company’s management team; expanding into new markets; scaling the inside sales team; acquiring a close competitor; and building out new marketing and distribution channels.
“Our journey with Rockbridge has been truly transformational, and Kings III is now well-positioned to leverage our excellent customer service reputation and take advantage of strong market demand,” says Dennis Mason, CEO of Kings III. “It has been a pleasure partnering with the Rockbridge team, and we thank them for their support as we enter this exciting new period.”
Thayer Street Partners, a New York based private equity firm, also was a minority investor and board member in Kings III and exited the company alongside Rockbridge. Honigman served as legal advisor and Raymond James served as financial advisor to Rockbridge and Kings III.
