HCI Equity Partners acquires Grasshopper Lawns in Pennsylvania

HCI Equity Partners, a lower middle-market private equity firm, has acquired Grasshopper Lawns.

This is the first acquisition in a thesis-driven strategy to consolidate companies in the highly fragmented market of residential lawn care treatment, tree and shrub services and pest control. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Headquartered in Larksville, Pennsylvania, Grasshopper is a fourth-generation, family-owned provider of lawn care treatment services to residential customers across Eastern Pennsylvania. The Company has built a strong reputation for delivering a wide range of high-quality services, including lawn treatment and fertilization, aeration, mosquito and pest control and tree and shrub services.

"We are excited to welcome the Kravitsky family and the entire Grasshopper team to the HCI portfolio of companies," says HCI Managing Partner Doug McCormick. "They have built a market-leading company in Eastern Pennsylvania with consistent organic growth throughout multiple economic cycles, and a loyal and growing customer base.  We look forward to partnering with the Grasshopper team to unlock new opportunities for transformational growth, innovation and geographic expansion."

"We are excited about this new chapter in the history of Grasshopper," says Michael Kravitsky, IV, Grasshopper owner and president. "We've enjoyed our time getting to know the HCI team and firmly believe partnering with them will provide us with the resources and support needed to provide increased opportunities to our family of employees, accelerate our growth initiatives, expand our service offerings and ultimately deliver an even better experience to our valued customers." 

Michael Kravitsky IV will remain with Grasshopper in a consulting and board role, and the day-to-day operations will transition to Michael Kravitsky V, which continues a trend of family leadership that has spanned for decades.

"The investment thesis HCI has developed for the lawn care treatment market is highly favorable. It has a route-based, recurring service model with a growing, resilient customer demand for services, in a large and very fragmented market, making it a strong candidate for aggressive M&A consolidation," says HCI Principal Nate Novak. "We believe Grasshopper is an ideal starting point for us to build a leading player in the industry that offers best-in-class service to customers."

Quarles & Brady served as legal counsel to HCI.  LR Tullius represented and acted as exclusive financial advisor to Grasshopper Lawns on the transaction.