Phoenix’s Shasta Pools just launched its pool/spa service and maintenance division a mere three years ago, and now that operation is expected to provide the underpinnings for a national home-services brand.
In late summer, it was announced that the 60-year-old powerhouse had been sold and would provide the foundation for a national brand that would expand to include home-industry services beyond the traditional pool/spa offerings. The new owners say that the service division will serve as the foundation.
Over the decades, the company competed intensely for the top spot in the Phoenix metro’s permit reports against an evolving set of rivals. The renowned Ast family, who started it and owned it all these years, sold it to an entity completely outside the industry. The longtime PSN Top 50 Builder was sold to an ownership group consisting of family investment firm Dansons Capital Group; Scottsdale, Ariz.-based private equity firm Accrual Equity Partners (AEP); and Hydro Construction (HydroCon), a contractor specializing in commercial pool construction and renovations in Arizona.
Dan Thiessen, CEO of Dansons Capital, and the company’s namesake (“Dan and sons”), will serve as Shasta’s chairman.
Standing left to right: Shasta CEO Skip Ast Jr.; Director of Sales Skip Ast III; and Director of Poolcare and Outdoor Environments Dave Lewis. Seated: Founder Skip Ast Sr.
Co-founder Skip Ast and his son, former president Skip Ast Jr., have left the company. However, one member of the Ast family who held an executive-level position—former sales manager Skip Ast III—remains with the company in a new capacity, as a manager of business development, helping the new owners develop projects and market opportunities.
Dansons Capital Group, a family investment group held by the Thiessen family, has prior experience in backyard-related offerings through its ownership of Pit Boss Grills, which it grew into a global brand before selling the company in 2023. The bulk of Dansons’ holdings comes from the real estate sector, but it also invests in oil and gas development, drug manufacturing, and other sectors.
“Our experience around consumer products and a customer-focused attitude, we think, will serve us extremely well as we try to expand Shasta beyond just a longstanding pool builder to a really strong player within the home-services areas,” said Jeff Thiessen, president of Dansons Capital.
In addition to falling within the new investors’ wheelhouse, their new expansion plans seemed the next logical step for Shasta, he said.
“Very few companies have such a legacy like that and have trust built within the community like that,” Jeff Thiessen said. “We want to honor and grow it. That’s why we want to be part of an entire consumer’s life cycle.”
While their experience in various home-services markets no doubt provides some consumer knowledge and business acumen relevant to the new venture, this marks the new owners’ first foray into residential pools. To propel the learning curve, the new principals started with some key hires and promotions in addition to Skip Ast III’s. This is meant to introduce more deep industry and institutional knowledge to compensate for the exit of the senior Asts, said Dansons Capital president Jeff Thiessen.
One of the company’s principals and a close friend of the Thiessen family is a longtime manager at Shasta, who will serve as a silent partner. In addition to this individual’s ownership stake, they now take on a title higher up on the org chart to help retain a base of knowledge, Jeff Thiessen said. The company has also brought on a San Antonio-based contractor, Vic Harshman, to now serve as head of residential construction. With 30-plus years of experience in pool construction in Arizona, Nevada, and Texas, Harshman has a prior relationship with Shasta as an exclusive subcontractor. He most recently served as director of construction for Keith Zars Pools in San Antonio.
In laying this base, Jeff Thiessen said the company is currently focusing on its Phoenix-area operations before venturing outward. “We can’t share a lot of detail around the national plan yet, as we have a lot of work to do in the immediate area first, as we develop out our thesis,” Jeff Thiessen said. “There’s a lot of work to build that foundation for the next step.”
For the time being, he added, the company is not pursuing acquisitions and has yet to determine how much they will factor into Shasta’s expansion plans.
“Shasta has so many opportunities within its own database that we want to focus on our existing marketplace first… Yes, we are looking at acquisition. It’s a strong way of scaling, but it’s not our primary focus.”
