Acquisition News: Birch Hill Buys TruGreen, Ending CD&R's 19 Years
TruGreen said Birch Hill Equity Partners has acquired the lawn care provider, ending 19 years of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice ownership; terms were not disclosed.
TruGreen, the Franklin, Tennessee, lawn care company, announced on Nov. 13 that it has been acquired by Birch Hill Equity Partners, a Toronto-based private equity firm. The sale ends a 19-year relationship with Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R). This acquisition news came without a price or other financial terms.
Key takeaways
- Birch Hill acquires TruGreen from CD&R, which had backed the company for 19 years.
- Financial terms were not disclosed, and the announcement did not say how the purchase is financed.
- Goldman Sachs advised TruGreen and CD&R; William Blair and TD Securities advised Birch Hill.
- Chief executive Kurt Kane said the focus stays on team members, customers and pro-level lawns.
The business
TruGreen was founded in 1973 and describes itself as the nation’s leading lawn care provider, offering lawn, tree and shrub, and pest services. It operates more than 300 locations across the United States and Canada and employs more than 12,000 people.
The buyer
Birch Hill is a Canadian mid-market private equity firm with more than $6 billion of assets under management. Since 1994, it has invested in 74 portfolio companies and fully realized 60 of them. Its 14 current partner companies together report more than $9 billion of revenue and employ more than 40,000 people. In the announcement, TruGreen cited Birch Hill’s experience owning and operating route-based service businesses, a description that fits a company whose crews serve customers on recurring schedules.
What the owners say about the plan
The company says that with Birch Hill’s support it will continue to execute its long-term strategy, centered on operational excellence, customer satisfaction and sustainable growth. It frames the change of ownership as the start of a new chapter focused on accelerating growth and strengthening its position in lawn care, and describes CD&R as having helped it become the industry leader and build a roadmap for growth.
The advisers
| Role | Firms |
|---|---|
| Financial adviser to TruGreen and CD&R | Goldman Sachs (exclusive) |
| Legal counsel to TruGreen and CD&R | Debevoise |
| Financial advisers to Birch Hill | William Blair, TD Securities |
| Legal counsel to Birch Hill | Paul Weiss, Davies |
Reading the announcement
Birch Hill’s own record is one of realized exits: 60 of its 74 portfolio companies since 1994, about 81%, have been fully realized, so the firm is a seller as well as a buyer.
The release is a company announcement, not a deal filing, and it says that TruGreen “has been acquired” rather than describing a pending transaction or conditions to closing. No purchase price, multiple, financing sources or closing mechanics appear in it, so the size of the transaction cannot be judged from the announcement alone.
What it does show is the shape of the sale: a long-held sponsor asset passing to another financial buyer. The release calls the transition the start of a new chapter, and Mr. Kane described a shared vision of becoming the best, fastest-growing and most valuable lawn care company in the world. He thanked CD&R for supporting TruGreen’s growth and its roadmap.
What to watch
Any further detail on price, financing or closing would have to come from later company disclosures. For now, the 19-year hold, the Canadian buyer and the advisers’ roles are the confirmed facts.
Prepared with AI assistance from public sources and reviewed under our editorial policy. Not investment advice.
