VSS Capital Partners (VSS), a private investment firm investing in the healthcare, information, business services and education industries, has invested in The HFW Companies (HFW), a newly formed platform and partnership focused on investing in architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) services firms.
Concurrently, HFW has introduced its first member firm – Miller Legg, an award-winning multi-disciplinary engineering and consulting firm based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Financial terms of the transactions have not been disclosed.
Headquartered in St Louis, Missouri, HFW is led by an executive team of three industry veterans who have experience in AEC services including prior operating, investment, and leadership experience. Recognising the high degree of fragmentation in the industry, the team set up HFW to execute a buy-and-build strategy focused on AEC firms who are interested in transitioning partial ownership of their businesses. HFW will serve as an integral partner to any AEC firm that joins its platform to ensure its successful continuity, preservation of equity ownership, current brand identity and operational independence.
“We are very impressed by the experienced leadership team of HFW, who brings deep strategic insight, business acumen and decades of operational experience, coupled with a powerful business model that is simple, innovative and non-disruptive,” says Jeffrey Stevenson, Managing Partner of VSS. “We are excited to provide HFW with VSS’ flexible capital solutions to support their next chapter of growth. We believe there is a great opportunity for them to share and implement best practices for the benefit of all its member firms.”
“In VSS, we have found a partner who brings the credentials, acquisition experience, industry know-how and familiarity with the operations of lower mid-market businesses,” says Michael Hein, CEO of HFW. “Our goal is to develop HFW into an organization with an exceptional ‘House of Brands’ that provides our member firms with the resources, benefits of scale, added depth of human resources and subject matter experts to create new growth opportunities for their businesses and employees.”
HFW is focused on building a network of well-recognized AEC brand firms across the United States. The Company’s business model is designed to preserve the brand recognition, loyal employee base and customer allegiance of AEC owners who join its platform. The AEC market is estimated to total more than USD200 billion, according to industry data.
“We’re thrilled to partner with CEO Mike Hein and his talented team who share our vision for delivering an exceptional customer-focused experience, and we look forward to benefitting from their collective knowledge and ability to continue growing our business in Florida and beyond,” says Mike Kroll, President of Miller Legg. “We are convinced that HFW is the right platform for expanding our business.”
HFW’s three founders, Mike Hein, COO Matt Westphal, and CFO Dan Forguson will spend 100 per cent of their time on HFW and serve as the executive team of the platform.
Crewe Capital, LLC served as financial advisor to HFW.
