With a new private-equity partner and a high-profile acquisition, Pool Troopers has positioned itself for more rapid expansion.
Last October, a significant portion of the company was purchased by Shoreline Equity Partners, a private equity firm based in the Jacksonville, Fla. area.
The PSN Top 50 Service firm’s top leadership remains in place, with Gary Crayton serving as CEO and Dave Hahmann as president.
“Shoreline was clear from Day One that they wanted the pool business to be run by pool people, and they wanted to add their expertise where they could,” Crayton said. “They’re living up to that on a daily basis ...”
With the resources in place, the company plans to speed up its growth rate, primarily through acquisitions, to which the private equity firm will provide its expertise.
“Combining the company’s established market position and unmatched track record of growth with Shoreline’s acquisition and integration experience, the partnership makes Pool Troopers the clear acquirer of choice in the industry,” Shoreline said in a press release.
Pool Troopers’ first purchase came earlier this month, with Portofino Pool Services & Outdoor Living, based in Jacksonville, Fla. The transaction brings a well-known industry name into the fold — Jack Manilla, former chairman of the Association of Pool & Spa Professionals. Manilla held the office during initial efforts to merge APSP with the National Swimming Pool Foundation, which it has since done to form the Pool and Hot Tub Alliance.
The latest acquisition also carries Pool Troopers into the Northeast Florida market. “They’re in a market we hadn’t gone into yet [and] it has a spectacular reputation,” Crayton said of Portofino. “It also had an owner with a great reputation in the industry.”
At least as important, Manilla and his staff will guide Pool Troopers into the commercial space. Until now, Tampa, Fla.-based Pool Troopers has focused solely on residential accounts. Portofino, on the other hand, mostly services commercial pools. Manilla will remain with the company for the time being, with his primary charge being to train staff throughout Pool Troopers on how to maintain and service commercial pools and spas.
Paula Manilla, Portofino’s co-founder/executive vice president and Jack Manilla’s wife, retired with the sale. Otherwise, Portofino’s entire staff has been retained by Pool Troopers.
“It was an ideal fit in terms of alignment of culture and values,” said Jack Manilla, who was Portofino’s founder/CEO. “Their vision of where they want to go in terms of growth, etc., ... we’ve shared that vision for a number of years ourselves. But this new organization has been able to accelerate that in a much more rapid fashion. So we felt it in the best interest to join and become part of them.”
Besides the obvious benefit of adding commercial service to its offerings, Pool Troopers’ management team expect the move to make future acquisitions easier.
“We knew there were a lot of businesses that did not specialize in residential or commercial, that did both,” Crayton said. “So we knew we were going to pick up businesses along the way that did commercial work.”
With the Portofino purchase, Pool Troopers now has 13 branches, with most in the Sunshine State, but others in Arizona and Texas. In the immediate future, the company plans to focus on those three states, plus the Las Vegas market. Eventually, though, it hopes to show a presence throughout the Sunbelt, Crayton said.
