Trivest Partners LP (“Trivest” or “Firm”), a leading private equity firm focused on investing in founder and family-owned businesses, today announced that Trivest Discovery Fund I has completed the sale of its portfolio company HighGround Restoration Group, Inc. (“HighGround” or “Company”) to Knox Lane. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.
Headquartered in Dallas, TX, HighGround is a leading national platform offering water damage mitigation and restoration services to homeowners. HighGround works hand in hand with homeowners in response to water damage events, with a relentless focus on customer service, responsiveness, and superior results, helping to return homes to their original state with speed and quality. The company was initially formed in February of 2020 with the acquisition of Dry Force, a Texas-based water loss mitigation and restoration leader. In 2022, the company launched the HighGround brand to represent the platform with national scale and resources to serve and support local brand execution. Since the initial investment in Dry Force, HighGround has completed 13 add-on acquisitions, increased its revenue by over 12x, and grown its employee base from 68 to nearly 700. The Company currently operates in thirteen states across the country.
“HighGround was an exciting investment for Trivest from day one. Over our five-year investment period, we had the opportunity to bring 14 terrific family-owned businesses into the HighGround/Trivest family. Each acquired company was a leader in its geographic market, and, by bringing these businesses together, we have built a unique platform in the water damage mitigation and restoration space. Ben Balsley and the entire HighGround team have worked tirelessly to successfully integrate these brands and create an exceptional business,” said Trivest Managing Partner Forest Wester, who led the HighGround investment.
The sale of HighGround represents a signature transaction for Trivest and is a testament to the Firm’s commitment to helping founder-led and family-owned businesses transition and grow. HighGround was the first platform investment in Trivest Discovery Fund I and represents the first Discovery Fund sale as well. Throughout its ownership period, Trivest leveraged numerous elements of its long-term value creation strategy, the “Path to 3x.” Trivest created a true Category of One by helping rebrand the entity as HighGround Restoration Group, driving its customer service-centric value proposition throughout the organization using the unified theme of “We Turn Chaos Into Calm.” Trivest also worked diligently to Topgrade the rapidly growing organization, filling out a best-in-class management team lead by Ben Balsley as CEO. The exemplary performance of this team was key to successfully integrating the numerous acquisitions, growing the Company’s profitability and ultimately the outstanding exit outcome achieved by Trivest.
“The growth we’ve experienced over the past five years has been nothing short of amazing and has culminated in this exciting new partnership with Knox Lane. We would like to thank the entire team from Trivest. From their original investment in Dry Force through the exit process, Trivest showed an incredible commitment to investing in our company and our people to help HighGround maximize its potential,” said HighGround CEO Ben Balsley.
Harris Williams served as exclusive financial advisor and Akerman LLP served as legal advisor to both HighGround and Trivest.
ABOUT HIGHGROUND
HighGround is a leading residential restoration services platform combining national scale with local brand execution. HighGround helps customers who have suffered water or fire damage by providing drying and clean up services coupled with restoration and repair contracting. With a proven track record of growth and focus on people, HighGround was built by partnering with like-minded companies that share a track record of doing the right thing for customers, employees, and partners. To learn more, visit www.highgroundnow.com
ABOUT TRIVEST
Trivest Partners is a leading private equity firm with more than $6 billion of capital under management across four unique investment funds that focus exclusively on the support and growth of founder-led and family-owned businesses with both control and non-control transactions across the United States and Canada. Headquartered in Miami, with a presence in Charlotte, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Toronto, the Firm has more than 50 portfolio companies as of January 2025. To learn more, visit www.trivest.com
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Contacts
Forest Wester
305-858-2200
