News

New Platform Investment in the K-12 Education Sector

Exeter Street Capital Partners (“Exeter”), the private equity affiliate of Patriot Capital Group, today announced the majority recapitalization of Creative Learning Systems, LLC (d/b/a “SmartLab” or the “Company”) in partnership with IBC Funds, Siguler Guff, and members of the SmartLab leadership team.

Founded in 1987 and based in Longmont, Colorado, SmartLab is a rapidly growing tech-enabled education company that designs and delivers turnkey project-based learning environments with a STEM (“Science, Technology, Engineering, Math”) focus. SmartLab’s learning environments bundle a customized environment, curated kits and equipment, proprietary SaaS curriculum, professional development, and technical support into a single solution.

The Company has been a pioneer in developing engaging and collaborative learning spaces aligned with learning initiatives, like college and career readiness, STEM capacity building, and life skills. Today, SmartLab partners with the most innovative school leaders nationwide to implement learning solutions that increase a student’s capacity through engaged, active, and social problem-solving. SmartLab’s project-based learning approach has proven efficacy in improving student achievement and engagement with math and science, both inside and outside the classroom.

“We could not be more thrilled to partner with Ashley Mathis, CEO of SmartLab, as well as her extremely talented leadership team to forge the next chapter in SmartLab’s growth. SmartLab’s unique learning solutions take aim at solving an acute pain-point in K-12 education: the decreasing number of STEM-ready students prepared to fill the increasing number of STEM-required jobs in our economy. This is a tremendous opportunity to partner with a company that will do well by doing good,” said Franklin Staley, managing director of Exeter. 

“We are excited to enter this next phase of growth for SmartLab and our employees,” said Ashley Mathis, SmartLab’s CEO. “For the last 3 years our team has put the building blocks in place to expand our national footprint, reach more schools with our unique turnkey solution, increase our market leadership position, and ultimately expand the number of students we serve. In partnership with Exeter and our new private equity partners, we intend to accelerate this growth and impact. Expect great things to come from SmartLab.”

Enterprise Bank and Trust provided senior debt financing for the deal. McGuireWoods LLP represented Exeter in the transaction.

New Platform Investment in the Specialty Packaging Industry

Exeter Street Capital Partners (“Exeter”), the private equity affiliate of Patriot Capital Group, today announced the majority recapitalization of Yebo Group (“Yebo” or the “Company”) in partnership with Harbert Credit Solutions, IBC Funds, and the Founder and CEO of Yebo, Andrew Tosh.
 
Based in Orange County, California, Yebo is a specialty packaging converter that provides wide-ranging solutions for the graphic packaging needs of customers in markets such as specialty retail, cosmetics, medical, promotional, agriculture and food service. Yebo’s diverse, fiber-based capabilities include folding carton, corrugated, and rigid/turned-edge boxes, as well as commercial printing.
 
While Yebo’s state-of-the-art equipment enables it to offer customers rapid turnaround times and exceptional value, it’s Yebo’s passion for customer service and technical prowess that make Yebo a best-in-class specialty packaging platform. The Company is also a pioneer in supporting California’s agricultural producers and packagers as they migrate to more sustainable, fiber-based alternatives for their produce. Exeter will work with Yebo to innovate in this agricultural and other emerging packaging markets, while also pursuing accretive add-on acquisitions that leverage the intrinsic value of the platform.
 
“We are delighted to forge this partnership with Andrew Tosh, Founder and CEO of Yebo, as well as the entire team of associates at Yebo. Yebo has grown rapidly and distinguished itself within crowded, competitive markets by offering superior speed, value and customer service, which is second to none in this industry. Yebo is at the perfect inflection point in its growth curve for Exeter to add value, and we look forward to working with Andrew and his team to take the Company to the next level,” said Franklin Staley, managing director of Exeter. 
 
“We are excited for this new partnership and the next chapter in Yebo’s development,” said Andrew Tosh, Yebo’s Founder and CEO. “For over 10 years, we have grown Yebo and cultivated a strong culture from the inside out, passionate about delivering results for our customers. The Exeter team embraced this culture and will add essential resources and know-how to accelerate the growth of our platform.”
 
CFG Bank provided senior debt financing for the deal. McGuireWoods LLP represented Exeter in the transaction.

Transaction builds one of the largest sign makers in the United States

Exeter Street Capital Partners, the private equity affiliate of Patriot Capital Group, announced that its platform Exeter Image Holdings has made a majority investment in Persona Signs (“Persona”) in partnership with Harbert Credit Solutions, NewSpring Mezzanine, Northcreek Mezzanine, and members of Persona’s leadership team. 

Persona is the second investment made by Exeter Image Holdings, LLC this year and joins with Triangle Sign & Service (“Triangle”), acquired in June 2021, to form one of the largest signage, lighting, and facility services companies in the United States. The two companies will operate side-by-side under the name “Persona-Triangle.”

Based in Watertown, South Dakota, for over 40 years, Persona is one of the largest national providers of commercial signage and lighting solutions to the hospitality, restaurant, convenience store, and corporate image sectors. Its turnkey solutions include in-house design and engineering, site- and permit-planning, start-to-finish project management, and three state-of-the-art production facilities centrally based in South Dakota, with the capacity and expertise to support the largest brand and sign programs in the world.

While Persona and Triangle will each continue to serve their respective customers and markets directly, the companies will leverage their expertise and deep industry relationships to broaden market reach, cross-sell each firm’s unique competencies, and expand customer solutions. Greg Kulesa will assume the title of Group CEO of Persona-Triangle. Mike Peterson will remain President of Persona and Craig Horn will remain Chief Operating Officer of Persona. Steve Altshuler will remain President of Triangle.

“Persona is a one-of-a-kind market leader in the hospitality, restaurant, and corporate image sign markets. We are tremendously excited about the potential for Persona to expand that leadership into other segments going forward. This transaction was not just about acquiring scale. Rather, this is about building a market leader with the capabilities to deliver the highest quality products and services to customers across all sectors. Much like Triangle, Persona has earned a reputation for superior products, quality, and a steadfast focus on customer service that is second to none in the industry. We could not be happier about our new partnership with Greg Kulesa, Mike Peterson, Craig Horn, and the entire team at Persona,” said Franklin Staley, Managing Director of Exeter.

“We are thrilled about the opportunities before us as Persona-Triangle,” said Greg Kulesa, Group CEO. “Both organizations wield deep-seated cultures of exceptional quality and dedication to our customers’ success, while also caring for our employees and the communities around us. We are excited to apply each firm’s special capabilities to continue to deliver for our customers in the marketplace.”

Enterprise Bank and Trust provided senior debt financing for the deal. Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP represented Exeter in the transaction. Persona was represented by Brown Gibbons Lang & Company (BGL), with legal representation from Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff LLP.

Exeter Street Capital Partners, the private equity affiliate of Patriot Capital Group, today announced its majority recapitalization of Triangle Sign & Service, LLC (“Triangle” or the “Company”) in partnership with Harbert Credit Solutions, Northcreek Mezzanine, and Company leadership.

Based in the Baltimore, Maryland area for nearly 90 years, Triangle is a leading national provider of commercial signage, lighting, and facility service solutions. Its turnkey solutions include in-house design and engineering, site-and permit-planning, start-to-finish project management, and state-of-the-art production facilities which enable the Company to support a diverse, blue-chip customer base representing some of the largest globally recognized brands.

Triangle’s focus on high-quality products and exceptional service has attracted a highly diversified, recurring customer base in key sub-sectors such as telecommunications, food and hospitality, corporate image, real estate development, high-end luxury, education, financial services, automotive, hospitality, and other consumer goods and services. Triangle also recently expanded to provide a full suite of commercial lighting and related facility services, enabling it to serve as a “one-stop” solution provider for its customers nationwide.

“We are thrilled to forge this partnership with Steve Altshuler, president of Triangle, and the entire Triangle team to power the next chapter of growth for this tremendous business. Triangle has become a leader in this dynamic market by focusing on long-term customer relationships, exceptional quality and service, and its proprietary manufacturing expertise. Triangle is a great fit for Exeter’s strategy of investing alongside passionate leadership to develop new growth channels, optimize operations and expand through acquisitions,” said Franklin Staley, managing director of Exeter.

“We are excited to partner with Exeter to take advantage of the numerous opportunities we have to invest in and grow our business,” said Steve Altshuler. “Exeter shares our corporate culture for exceptional quality, tireless dedication to our customers, care for our employees, and service to our community, all of which have enabled our company to sustain itself as a long-term leader in this industry for nearly 90 years.”

“Exeter and Triangle are actively seeking add-on acquisitions in the commercial signage, lighting, and facility services sectors, and would welcome any conversations regarding such opportunities,” added Staley.

First National Bank provided senior debt financing for the deal. Nelson Mullins represented Exeter in the transaction.

Patriot Capital Group, a multi-strategy middle market investment manager and advisory services platform announced today it has hired Franklin Staley to lead its lower middle market buyout strategy, Exeter Street Capital Partners (“Exeter Street”).  Staley brings to Exeter Street more than 25 years of private equity, advisory and operating experience, all of it focused on lower middle market industrial growth & technology, business, consumer and healthcare services companies.  

Most recently, Staley spent 9+ years with DC Advisory LLC (formerly Signal Hill), where he founded the firm’s sponsor coverage effort and was a Managing Director in the Business Services practice area.  Prior to joining Signal Hill, Staley spent 9 years as a Principal and founding member of Meriturn Partners, LLC, a private equity fund focused on buyouts of lower middle-market companies in basic industries.  He has prior investment banking experience with Cowen & Company, Lehman Brothers and Chase.

Charles McCusker, Managing Partner of Patriot Capital Group commented: “After 20 years of successfully managing 5 junior capital and minority equity funds and 30 years of corporate advisory investment banking services, we are excited to leverage the Patriot Capital Group platform to supercharge our efforts in the microcap buyout market on behalf of our investors. This is a very natural extension of our business, and Franklin is the right professional at the right time to take our Exeter Street platform to the next level.”

Staley will leverage Patriot Capital Group’s dedicated and proprietary deal sourcing resources, as well as its 30-year-deep network of industry resources and professional partners, to differentiate Exeter Street in the market as he looks to build the team rapidly and acquire lower middle market businesses.

Exeter Street Capital Partners is pleased to announce that its affiliate Accscient, LLC (“Accscient”) has acquired PDS, LLC (“PDS”).  PDS, established in 1987 and headquartered in Denver, CO, has offices in Phoenix, AZ and Salt Lake City, UT and is one of the leading Information Technology (IT) & Engineering consulting firms in the Western United States. Given their presence in the southwest and strong engineering competencies, the acquisition will create significant synergies to both companies and significantly enhance Accscient’s market position in the Western United States.

Based in Atlanta, GA, Accscient was founded in 2005 with a goal of building a leading national provider of IT services. Accscient operates through three divisions (Norwin Technologies, Premier IT Solutions and Appridat) and provides IT consulting and IT staffing services on client projects including ERP planning/implementation, business intelligence, and infrastructure/data center management. Accscient serves Fortune 1000 customers in a wide variety of industries with over 350 consultants while leveraging offshore capabilities when appropriate.

Exeter Street Capital Partners is pleased to announce that its affiliate Accscient, LLC (“Accscient”) has acquired Emergys, LLC (“Emergys”).  Headquartered in Raleigh, NC, Emergys is a leader in SAP enterprise solutions, IBM business process management, business intelligence and analytics and digital transformation solutions and services.

Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Accscient was founded in 2005 with a goal of building a leading national provider of IT services.  Accscient operates through three divisions (Norwin Technologies, Premier IT Solutions and Appridat) and provides IT consulting and IT staffing services on client projects including ERP planning/implementation, business intelligence, and infrastructure/data center management.  Accscient serves Fortune 1000 customers in a wide variety of industries with over 350 consultants, while leveraging offshore capabilities when appropriate.

Exeter Street Capital Partners is pleased to announce that its affiliate Accscient, LLC (“Accscient”) has acquired Applications2U, LLC (“Applications2U”). The acquisition of Applications2U expands Accscient’s offerings in consulting, digital infrastructure management and systems integration to the healthcare industry.

Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Accscient was founded in 2005 with a goal of building a leading national provider of IT services.  Accscient operates through three divisions (Norwin Technologies, Premier IT Solutions and Appridat) and provides IT consulting and IT staffing services on client projects including ERP planning/implementation, business intelligence, and infrastructure/data center management.  Accscient serves Fortune 1000 customers in a wide variety of industries with over 350 consultants while leveraging offshore capabilities when appropriate.

Exeter Street Capital Partners is pleased to announce the closing of a transaction relating to the $20 million private placement of preferred equity securities and redeemable preferred securities to support the recapitalization and growth strategy of Accscient, LLC.

Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Accscient, a FutureTech Holding Company, was founded in 2005 with a goal of building a leading national provider of IT services. Accscient operates through three divisions (Norwin Technologies, Premier IT Solutions and Appridat) and provides IT consulting and IT staffing services on client projects including ERP planning/implementation, business intelligence, and infrastructure/data center management. Accscient services Fortune 1000 customers in a wide variety of industries with over 350 consultants and leverages offshore capabilities when appropriate.

Exeter Street Capital Partners initiated and invested in the recapitalization of PF Growth Partners, LLC (PFGP). In conjunction with the transaction, Exeter arranged $93.75M of senior debt and preferred equity capital to support PFGP’s new club expansion and to provide a distribution to shareholders.

PF Growth Partners, LLC is a leading Planet Fitness franchisee with locations in Maryland, Tennessee and Florida.