Banbury: Franchise organisation acquired by New York PE firm

Dwyer Franchising, one of the world’s largest parent companies of home service brands, has been acquired by Harvest Partners, a New York-based private equity firm. The deal marks the fourth and largest private equity transaction of Dwyer Group in the franchise organisation’s history. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Dwyer Group, headquartered in Waco, Texas, with offices in Banbury and Manchester UK, serves as the holding company for 20 service brands, with a franchise network including more than 3,200 franchisees operating in the United States, United Kingdom and seven other countries. The combined businesses offer domestic and commercial customers with a community of professional services and account for approximately £1.3 billion in annual system-wide revenues.

The Banbury-based Dwyer Group UK, whose brands include Aire Serv, Bright & Beautiful, Countrywide Grounds Maintenance, Drain Doctor and Mr. Electric, is focused on being the premier provider of services for repairing, maintaining and enhancing customers’ homes and businesses. 

Harvest Partners, is an established middle-market private equity firm with a 35-plus year history of investing in companies and partnering with high-quality management teams to support those businesses as they continue to grow to the next level.

“We are thrilled to partner with the Dwyer Group management team. They have built an excellent company and we look forward to providing additional financial and strategic resources to help them further build on their market leader status in the service franchise category,” said Steve Eisenstein, partner at Harvest Partners.

Harvest’s purchase transfers majority ownership of Dwyer Group from The Riverside Company, a global investment firm that invested in Dwyer Group two separate times – taking the company private in 2003 and reacquiring the company in 2014.

“This acquisition is exciting news for Dwyer Group as it will open up many more opportunities for us to grow our network of franchises across our five brands even further across the UK," said Jeff Meyers, vice-president of international operations for the Dwyer Group. “It will also be great to benefit from Harvest Partners vast expertise and experience in the service sector.”