Harpeth Capital Serves as Exclusive Financial Advisor to American Fire Protection
Harpeth Capital, LLC is pleased to announce that Birmingham, AL-based American Fire Protection, Inc. (“AFP” or the “Company”) has sold an equity interest to CHA Consulting, Inc., a portfolio company of Long Point Capital, Inc. The transaction underscores American Fire Protection’s position as a mission-critical provider of value-added services involving the custom design, engineering, installation and maintenance of fire protection systems throughout the Southeast U.S. and internationally. Harpeth Capital served as exclusive financial advisor to the Company in connection with the transaction.
American Fire Protection’s clients include many of the top prime contractors in the country in addition to government-related entities including the United States Department of State and Department of Defense. Founded in 2004, the Company has performed work on approximately 1,000 facilities worldwide in over 80 countries, including a number of U.S. embassies and consulates. Its professional approach and focus on “Design Excellence” has fueled strong growth in recent years and further penetration into government/military, automotive and manufacturing, among other industries.
The opportunity to partner with CHA Consulting, a full-service engineering and construction management firm to public, private and institutional clients, will provide American Fire Protection with access to client opportunities within CHA Consulting’s Life Safety & Security service line, which prior to the transaction did not have this level of expertise in house. As CHA’s CEO and President Mike Carroll said, “The expected growth in the fire protection systems market provides exciting opportunities for the CHA and AFP teams. The demand for global fire protection services and the synergies that exist between our companies and the markets we serve will significantly enhance our ability to provide our clients with innovative, state-of the-art fire protection and engineering services. This partnership is extremely positive for both companies, and I am confident in our future as a leading firm in this very important market.”
Randy Treglown and Matt Mullinax, Co-Founders of American Fire Protection, said, “We visited with a number of potential advisors and chose Harpeth Capital because of Chuck and Adam’s upfront honesty regarding valuation expectations and timing, as well as their sincere interest in our motivations to pursue a transaction at this time. Dealing with private equity and potential suitors was a first for us, and they did a great job of communicating our story, keeping us informed, generating strong interest, and ultimately putting us in a great position where we achieved a valuation above our expectations and had to make a very hard decision among which offer to accept. We couldn’t be happier for the Company and AFP team about partnering with CHA and Long Point Capital.”
Commenting on the transaction, Harpeth Capital Managing Director, Adam Landa said, “From the day we met Randy and Matt, we knew we wanted to work with them to make a transaction such as this a reality. They have built a highly-reputable leader in the industry by focusing on delivering value to their domestic and international clients and view themselves as more of a partner than a vendor. With strong interest from multiple parties, we are proud of the outcome and are confident the American Fire Protection team will enjoy continued success.”
The transaction closed on January 5, 2017. The Birmingham office of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell, & Berkowitz, P.C. provided legal counsel to the shareholders of American Fire Protection.