HEPACO Acquires Evergreen AES

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- HEPACO, LLC ("HEPACO"), a leading provider of environmental and emergency response services across 45 offices in the Eastern United States, announced today that it has acquired Evergreen AES Environmental Services ("Evergreen AES" or "the Company") from Jerry McCandless, Kendrick McCandless, and Jennifer Lanham (collectively "Sellers"). Sellers will roll a portion of their sale proceeds into HEPACO and hold a minority position.

Founded in 1986 by Dr. Jerry W. McCandless and headquartered in Shelbyville, Kentucky, Evergreen AES is a regional provider of remediation, emergency response and environmental services, operating from four locations in Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana and West Virginia. Evergreen AES President Jennifer Lanham will join the HEPACO team as a Vice President. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. HEPACO is majority-owned by San Francisco-based Gryphon Investors, a leading middle-market private equity firm, which purchased HEPACO in August 2016.

The combined company will have nearly 850 employees and a footprint of 49 locations across the Mid-Atlantic, Mid-Central, Midwest, Northeast and Southeast regions, in addition to the ability to respond to emergencies on a national basis through its managed network of third-party emergency response vendors.

Phil Petrocelli, HEPACO Executive Chairman and Operating Partner in Gryphon's Business Services Group, said, "We are thrilled to complete the strategic acquisition of Evergreen AES, an opportunity which adds both valuable talent and resources to a strong HEPACO team and sets a course for our continued growth in 2020."

HEPACO Chief Executive Officer Ken Smith said, "We are excited to welcome an impressive and talented Evergreen AES team to the HEPACO family." Mr. Smith added, "This regional acquisition will immediately expand our ability to service clients across the Mid-Central and Midwest regions, and we look forward to providing best-in-class emergency response and environmental service solutions to HEPACO and Evergreen AES customers across our growing footprint."

Dr. McCandless stated, "We look forward to the strategic benefits that joining forces with HEPACO provides to our long-time customers and the new opportunities for growth it will create for our Evergreen AES team members. This acquisition brings together a diverse talent base and strong resources and capabilities in emergency response, remediation, industrial services and waste management."

Lynch, Cox, Gilman & Goodman, PSC acted as legal advisor to Evergreen AES, while Moore & Van Allen provided legal advice to HEPACO.

About HEPACO
HEPACO (www.hepaco.com) is an industry-leading provider of emergency response, environmental remediation, marine, waste, and other industrial services across a diversified group of end markets including rail, oil & gas, transportation, power & utility, and manufacturing. The company has a broad geographic footprint across 25+ states in the Mid-Atlantic, Mid-Central, Midwest, Northeast and Southeast United States and offers a two-hour or less response time within its footprint. HEPACO provides both emergency response and scheduled services and completed more than 27,000 projects in 2019.

About Evergreen AES
Evergreen AES (www.evergreenaes.com) is a professional environmental contractor specializing in emergency response, environmental remediation, industrial services, and waste management. The company operates from local offices providing coverage in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee and West Virginia. Evergreen AES serves a variety of customers including transportation companies, industrial facilities, hospitals, manufacturing and emergency response managers across the region.

About Gryphon Investors
Based in San Francisco, Gryphon Investors (www.gryphoninvestors.com) is a leading private equity firm focused on profitably growing and competitively enhancing middle-market companies in partnership with experienced management. The firm has managed over $5.0 billion of equity investments and capital since 1997. Gryphon targets making equity investments of $100 million to $300 million in portfolio companies with sales ranging from approximately $100 million to $500 million. Gryphon prioritizes investment opportunities where it can form strong partnerships with owners and executives to build leading companies, utilizing Gryphon's capital, specialized professional resources, and operational expertise. For more information, visit www.gryphoninvestors.com.

SOURCE HEPACO, LLC

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