Jupiter, FL. January 20, 2022 – Commercial Energy Specialists Holdings LLC, (“CES Holdings”) based in Jupiter, FL, announced the acquisition of Duffield Aquatics, Inc. (“Duffield”), based in Anderson, SC. CES Holdings is a platform for acquiring and growing service-based distributors of recreational water treatment equipment to commercial and institutional aquatic facilities. Duffield becomes the third company within the CES Holdings family, joining Commercial Energy Specialists, LLC (“CES”) and Knorr Systems Int’l, LLC. This transaction further strengthens CES Holdings’ position as a national water quality management leader by adding Duffield’s leading market shares in six Southeastern states to complement its market leadership in Florida, California, Nevada, the Caribbean and Pacific Rim.
CES Holdings was formed in April 2021 by Turning Basin Capital Partners, LLC and Vigeo Investments, LLC in partnership with Alvaro Mendoza, the founder and CEO of CES. CES, founded in 1983, is a pioneer and leading provider of Service Supported Distribution (SSD®) of water treatment solutions in the Florida and Caribbean markets, and throughout the U.S. CES counts among its clients thousands of institutional and commercial swimming pools, swim schools, spas, water parks and water features. CES’s differentiated Q5® Water Quality Management Program and remote monitoring capability provide a comprehensive solution designed to ensure the health and safety, energy and water efficiency, and quality standards for its clients’ facilities.
Duffield, founded in 1972, provides full-service water treatment programs to commercial and institutional swimming pools throughout the Southeast. Duffield is renowned for its expertise in the fields of controls, filtration, chemical treatment, UV disinfection, heating, and a broad spectrum of technical and operator educational-certification support programs. Steve Gibson, Duffield’s President, will continue with the Company and lead CES Holdings’ efforts in the Southeast.
The transaction closed on January 14, 2022. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
About Turning Basin Capital Partners
Turning Basin is a private equity firm with a unique focus on lower middle market companies that support critical infrastructure in a wide range of energy, industrial and commercial markets. Turning Basin invests in companies that create value by addressing complex environmental, health and safety, energy efficiency and regulatory challenges. Turning Basin provides equity capital to fund growth initiatives and to facilitate ownership transition for entrepreneurial service providers and equipment manufacturers and distributors that are well-positioned to capitalize on market opportunities in these rapidly changing sectors. For more information, visit
About Vigeo Investments
Vigeo Investments is a private family office based in Denver. Vigeo holds a diversified portfolio of operating companies, real estate and other private investments. Vigeo seeks to invest in operating companies via control or minority investments in promising middle market companies primarily across the Industrial, Infrastructure, Business Services and Consumer Products markets. For more information, visit www.vigeoinvest.com.