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Bob Magda, co-founder of Lawn Doctor, designed this tractor combine in his basement.
LOS ANGELES – Lawn Doctor, a nationwide network of more than 460 independently-owned franchise locations, has been acquired by private equity firm Levine Leichtman Capital Partners. Lawn Doctor is the first investment from Levine Leichtman Capital Partners SBIC Fund, a $225 million private equity fund.
“Lawn Doctor is an iconic brand with a long history of growth and innovation,” said Lauren Leichtman, co-founder and CEO of LLCP. “It offers a differentiated and personalized approach to lawn care and leads the industry in customer satisfaction and retention. We are excited to partner with the current CEO Russell Frith, Co-Founder and SVP Bob Magda and the LD management team and look forward to the continued growth of the business.”
Frith and Bob Magda will each make significant investments in the company and will remain engaged with Lawn Doctor through their new roles as senior advisors.
As a part of the transition, long-time Lawn Doctor executive Scott Frith has taken over as CEO.
"The transaction allowed the company to access new forms of growth capital in order to continue to fund key strategic initiatives, ensuring the long - term viability of an organization that is well positioned to seize on opportunities in the marketplace," Scott Frith said in an email to Lawn & Landscape.
Frith said that he wants to build on the foundation his father and Magda laid in his new role as CEO.
"We want to work closely with our franchisees to continuously improve customer satisfaction and unit level economics," he said. "If customers are satisfied with our offering and franchisees become increasingly more profitability from each relationship they establish, you have the makings for even greater success."
While the acqusition is a growth opportunity for the company, Scott Frith said, in the near future, the company won't be exapnding outside of the areas where they currently have locations.
"While geographic expansion is part of our long term growth plan, we have a significant opportunity in the near term to increase our presence within our current footprints," he said
Lawn Doctor has franchise locations in 38 states and ranked No. 10 on Lawn & Landscape’s 2010 Top 100 list.
