Riverside Takes the Rains of Latest Investment

The Riverside Company, a global private equity firm focused on the smaller end of the middle market, has invested in Carter’s Fire Sprinkler Maintenance & Piping, Inc. (Carter’s). The company provides fire sprinkler services including repeat inspection, testing, repair and maintenance services to commercial building owners and property managers in Oregon.

Carter’s is an add-on to Riverside’s fire and life safety platform, Performance Systems Integration (PSI). Based in Portland, Oregon, PSI is a leading provider of fire and life safety services in the Pacific Northwest. The company provides customers with fire and life safety services including system inspection, service and monitoring, equipment sales and cylinder repairs as well as installations for new construction and retrofits.

“Carter’s is a great addition to our platform as we continue our aggressive add-on strategy for PSI,” said Riverside Managing Partner Loren Schlachet. “The company will help bolster our presence in the Oregon market and make a plethora of additional fire and life safety services available to Carter’s customers.”

PSI is committed to delivering customers a high quality of customer service through its “single-point-of-management” compliance services and solutions for fire protection and life safety needs. The company also operates two Fire King divisions, specializing in fire extinguisher sales and service and cylinder requalification and maintenance in Western Washington.

“We’re excited to partner with a similar minded, customer-focused team at Carter’s as we continue to bolster PSI’s presence in the Pacific Northwest,” said PSI CEO Travis Everton. “We look forward to providing expanded services and support to customers and building on the strong business the team at Carter’s has worked hard to build over the years.”

This is one more example of Riverside’s commitment to the Business Services industry. Riverside has invested in more than 270 platform and add-on companies in the business services sector since 1988 as part of its private equity and structured capital strategies.

“Not only is Carter’s an excellent addition to our PSI portfolio of services, but we are committed to working with local Oregon businesses that have faced a challenging COVID-19 environment as well as the recent wildfires that have impacted much of the state,” said Riverside Partner John McKernan. “This is our third add-on to PSI as we continue to search for fire protection companies with strong technicians, specializing in inspection, repair and monitoring of fire and life safety equipment.”
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Working with Schlachet and McKernan on the deal were Associate Aakeem Andrada, Analyst Aarathi Sahadevan, Operating Partner Ervin Cash and Finance Director Bart Thielen. Principal, Origination, Cheryl Strom sourced the deal for Riverside.