The September merger of Lipinski Outdoor Services and R.E.I.T./M&H Services will allow both services to reach a more diverse client base, says Vince Willis, chairman of Lipinski Services, LLC. Growth will be spread across both national clients and property managers, rather than a specific focus on any market.
“Lipinski’s primary client base has evolved into large national retail clients. R.E.I.T. has been innovative in working with property owners and other retail,” says Willis. “We have two companies that do outdoor management services and we can think about how to make that work better for our customers.”
The merger, facilitated by L2 Capital, also expands the services offered by both companies. Lipinski is the third-largest snow removal company in the United States, according to Willis, and also provides commercial landscaping. R.E.I.T. covers these services, plus demolition and construction services, including a lot of disaster recovery work.
“Now we have these new services offerings that we can sell across our entire portfolio,” he says. “Already the executives of both companies are coming to me and suggesting that we combine things. I have a healthy combination of management services vs. direct performance services.”
The merger started with R.E.I.T., having built up to “a meaningful size,” says Willis, and joining with Lipinski to reach the next step in the industry.
The entire management team for each company will remain in place with the merger, and though the details of the deal are undisclosed, the combined companies “will be in the upper mid-eight digits in revenue right out of the gate and will have several hundred employees in addition to a contractor network that goes into the thousands,” says Willis.
The strength of each company going into this deal will help the transition, which should continue into the next few months, says Willis.
“I think what we’ll see over time is: how do you think about going to market with common services and how do you think about expanding,” he says. “Putting these things together – it’s a very nice way to be going into a deal. You have two very healthy companies that we think make more sense together in the long term than apart, but there’s no urgency to slam them together.”
As the merger continues to build business for both companies, Lipinski Services isn’t setting up any boundaries to growth yet, says Willis.
“Not just through more customers and expanded volume, but through both our own development and where it makes sense to use capital to buy additional assets,” he says.
For more coverage of the merger, read our previous story here.