Nautic Partners, LLC (“Nautic”) today announced that Nautic Partners VII, L.P. and Nautic Partners VII-A, L.P. (collectively, “Fund VII”) has made an equity investment in Response Team 1 (“RT1”) in partnership with its founders John Goense and Erik Bloom. RT1 is a national provider of property restoration and renovation services. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Headquartered in Wheeling, IL, Response Team 1 offers three major services: mitigation, structural restoration, and multifamily renovation. RT1’s mitigation services involve “first responders” arriving at a single-family home or a multifamily /commercial property immediately after water, fire, or storm damage has occurred, in order to pump out water; dry and decontaminate the property; remove smoke and soot; and relocate household items for storage and cleaning. Structural restoration follows mitigation work and involves stabilizing the property’s structure; cleaning and repairing plumbing, electrical, and HVAC systems; and restoring interior finishes. Separately, RT1’s renovation services involve performing multi-unit interior and exterior upgrades to multifamily complexes aiming for short turnaround times that minimize vacancy periods.
“John Goense and Erik Bloom built RT1 by bringing together top-performing providers across the U.S. who share a commitment to rapid response and high-quality work. Consequently, RT1 enjoys strong relationships and high customer satisfaction with property & casualty insurance carriers, insurance adjusters, and multifamily operators,” said Doug Hill, Managing Director of Nautic. “We are enthusiastic to partner with John and Erik to continue RT1’s tradition of excellence and to support the future growth of the company, which will come both organically and through capitalizing on the substantial consolidation opportunity that exists in the company’s fragmented market.”
“We believe Nautic is an ideal partner for us in the next stage of RT1’s growth,” said John Goense, Chairman and CEO, Response Team 1. “Nautic shares our strategic vision for RT1 to continue expanding its leading position in the restoration and renovation market. Moreover, Nautic’s substantial prior success with labor-intensive consolidation strategies such as GCA Services, as well as with de-centralized residential services models such as Chem-Dry, positions the firm as an experienced partner for RT1.”
“As a national platform, RT1 is able to deliver world-class service to its customers,” said Edward Sohn, Vice President of Nautic. “With its well-developed standard operating procedures and centralized information systems, RT1 provides consistent, high-quality work product from location to location and from job to job, an attribute that customers value greatly. Further, with its strong reputation and national relationships, RT1 is able to drive incremental business to its local offices, adding value to the independent companies in which it invests.”
Concurrently with Fund VII’s investment, RT1 acquired three additional restoration businesses: Emergency Reconstruction (“ER”), headquartered in Raleigh, NC; JFS Construction Group (“JFS”), headquartered in Van Nuys, CA; and Venturi Technologies (“Venturi”), headquartered in Philadelphia, PA.
“We are excited about the prospects for RT1 and our new partnership with Nautic,” said Erik Bloom, Vice Chairman, Response Team 1. “With the strength of our core business combined with the acquisition of ER, JFS, and Venturi, each of which is a leader in its respective geography, we are better poised than ever to serve our customers and to capitalize on the immense market opportunity before us.”
Antares Capital (www.antares.com) and LStar Capital (www.lstarcap.com) provided financing for the transaction. Robert W. Baird & Co. acted as financial advisor for Response Team 1.