America’s Swimming Pool Co. is now a part of Authority Brands.
Authority Brands is a leading home services franchiser and parent company of The Cleaning Authority, which provides home cleaning services to more than 100,000 recurring customers. The Columbia, Md.-based company also has franchise platform that tends to the elderly and disabled called Homewatch CareGivers.
There are no planned leadership changes. Stewart Vernon will continue to serve ASP as founder and CEO alongside president and COO Tom Swift.
There is synergy between The Cleaning Authority and ASP. Vernon said it made sense to join a home–services company when you consider that every pool has a home and many homes have a pool. The partnership will allow both brands to benefit from cross-promotional campaigns.
Additionally, current ASP franchisees will benefit from more robust software services with The Cleaning Authority’s propriety system, he said.
Vernon said he has fielded offers in the past, but nothing gelled. He said he’d only consider selling if ASP franchise owners stood to gain from the transaction.
“The one thing we said as a hard and fast rule is it had to be a right partner for our franchisees,” said Vernon who founded the company in 2002. It currently has more than 100 franchisees across 21 states.
The acquisition is latest example of a private equity company impacting the industry. Authority Brands was itself acquired in September by Apax Partners, a global private equity advisory firm headquartered in London.
“Apax’s strategy is to help Authority Brands accelerate growth both organically and through acquisition,” Ashish Karandikar, partner at Apax Partners, said in a press release. “Together, we have identified ASP as a compelling brand that has a natural home in the Authority Brands network. We are delighted to support Authority Brands with this acquisition and welcome the ASP team.”
