Huron Capital, a middle-market private equity firm, sold a majority interest in ExperiGreen Lawn Care to funds managed by Wind Point Partners.
“We launched this company in 2016 with a vision of building the best business in lawncare, with leading customer satisfaction and exceptional talent recruitment and retention. In partnering with Huron, we hoped to rapidly scale a model that was working well at six locations and have been thrilled to have them as our partner as we have grown our service area and team to support 27 branch locations,” said John Moehn, founder and president of ExperiGreen. “Our Company has benefited immensely from Huron’s and our board’s guidance over the last two years.”
No. 69 on the 2024 LM150 list, ExperiGreen, headquartered in Mishawaka, Ind., provides customized fertilization, weed control, aeration, seeding, disease treatment, grub control, perimeter pest control and tree and shrub care solutions to more than 140,000 residential customers in the United States and Canada. Huron partnered with the company in 2022 and supported its expansion, including organic growth and 19 acquisitions, driving an over 10-fold increase in EBITDA. This transformed ExperiGreen from an upstart lawncare provider into a regional powerhouse.
According to Huron, under its ExecFactor program, the company recognized significant industry trends in do-it-for-me outsourcing of home services, increasing rates of home ownership, and the opportunity to drive better business outcomes with the integration of technology to enhance customer satisfaction.
Huron partnered with a group of industry executives led by President John Moehn in 2022 to scale ExperiGreen to become a leader in the lawn care industry. The ExecFactor strategy also brought together the guidance and leadership of Co-Chairmen David Alexander, the former CEO of TruGreen, a provider of lawn care treatment and Joe Kucik, founder of Real Green Systems, one of the lawncare industry’s software providers.
“Since taking a first call in 2021 about the lawn care industry, we were enthused about the prospects for an ExecFactor investment in the space,” said Brian Rassel, partner with Huron and investment lead. “ExperiGreen was found on a tip that there was a little lawn care company with big-time executive leadership in Mishawaka’, which was absolutely true. John and his team have been industry leaders and pioneers for decades, and we have been very proud to be able to support their organization and continue to be excited about being their partner going forward alongside Wind Point.”
The company’s senior management team, as well as Huron, will retain minority equity stakes in the business, and Rassel will continue to remain active by taking a seat on ExperiGreen’s board of directors.
Honigman LLP served as legal advisor to Huron and ExperiGreen.
