JUPITER, FL. April 22, 2021 – Turning Basin Capital (“TBC”) and Vigeo Investments (“Vigeo”) announced today that they have completed an investment in Commercial Energy Specialists, LLC (“CES”), based in Jupiter, FL. TBC and Vigeo are partnering with CES’s management team, led by 40-year industry veteran, Alvaro Mendoza, to facilitate strategic growth plans.
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, water features, and industrial process water businesses. CES’s differentiated Q5® Water Quality Management Program and extensive remote monitoring center provide a comprehensive solution designed to ensure the health and safety, energy and water efficiency, and highest quality standards for its clients’ facilities.
Mr. Mendoza will continue in his role as CEO and remain a significant owner of the Company, ensuring the continuation of CES’s history of service excellence and innovation. “We worked diligently over several years to find the perfect partner for our unique company, and one that understood and valued our SSD® business model. Through this investment we are well poised for the future, while retaining our entrepreneurial spirit and our tremendous company culture,” Mr. Mendoza said.
Tom Willingham, Managing Director at TBC, said, “We are excited to partner with Alvaro and the CES team to build upon CES’s highly successful and differentiated model in Florida and the Caribbean and expand into national leadership in the water quality management market.”
Added Steven Folse, Managing Director of Vigeo: “The commercial water quality management market presents a high growth opportunity which we are looking forward to entering through our investment in CES. We believe the team’s highly scalable Service Supported Distribution model provides the ideal platform to start to consolidate what is currently a highly fragmented market.”
The transaction closed on April 21, 2021. BankUnited provided senior debt financing to help facilitate the investment in CES. Parcrest Advisors and Kanai CFO Services advised CES in the transaction. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
To learn more about CES, visit ceswaterquality.com.
About Turning Basin Capital
Turning Basin Capital is a private equity firm with a unique focus on lower-middle market companies providing services and products to the critical infrastructure, energy, health and safety, and environmental protection and compliance market sectors. TBC provides capital and strategic support, working with its partner management teams, to drive growth and long-term value creation. For more information, visit www.turningbasin.com.
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.