Fortress Pest Brands

When Nick Durieu was looking to grow and further support the company that his dad founded in 1991, Senate Termite and Pest Control, serving Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia, he said he wanted to find the right financial partner.

Similarly, before the former owner of Neuse Termite and Pest Control, Tracy Coats, entered retirement, he wanted a partner who could help move the North Carolina-based business forward.

Durieu and Coats made the decision to sell their respective companies to Riverarch Equity Partners, a middle- market private equity firm based in Pittsburgh. Senate was purchased by the firm on Oct. 1 and became Senate Holdings, while Neuse was bought on Dec. 11.

After Neuse was purchased, the two pest control companies from different geographic and foundational backgrounds consolidated into Fortress Pest Brands, which ranks No. 51 on this year’s Top 100. Josh Stuart, CFO, Fortress Pest Brands, said the firm’s decision to purchase Senate and Neuse was to help advance the companies with resources.

“When we’re looking for companies to purchase…we’re looking for people like Nick and Scott, people who are strong local operators that want to keep the business rolling,” Stuart said. “It’s about building what’s already there; that value that’s already there.”

THE DECISION TO SELL. Durieu, in his search for a financial partner, said Senate already had a strong business foundation with its employees and customer base, but needed more infrastructure to grow.

“There’s a difference between a successful company and then having the infrastructure, the capital and support to scale it even further,” Durieu, regional president, Senate, said. “What appealed to me about [forming Fortress] was it wasn’t about changing our core and what we do; it was about preserving the local strengths of the company while adding resources.”

Scott Crysel, who became regional president of Neuse after Fortress Pest Brands was formed, said Coats wanted a partner who valued the company’s family culture and community reputation he had built over the past 25 years.

“That was a big thing he wanted to find in a partner,” Crysel said. “And also, a partner that wouldn’t necessarily maintain the status quo, but could push the company forward to places that maybe he couldn’t take it to on his own.”

INVESTING IN LEADERSHIP. With the firm’s backing, Durieu said he is particularly excited about being able to create more career opportunities for his employees at Senate. With the company also seeking to expand geographically through acquisitions, he said his employees will see more avenues to grow in leadership.

“The people I work with, I see them every day,” Durieu said. “I just love being able to give more to everybody that’s helped me so much growing this business.”

Crysel, who served as vice president of Neuse before Coats retired, also said he can offer more benefits and opportunities to his employees, especially those who have been with the company a long time. “I can now offer deserving employees opportunities that before I just wouldn’t have had in our past iteration,” he said.

Crysel said another benefit of Neuse joining Senate under Fortress has been the collaboration between the companies. Both Crysel and Durieu have seen what one another’s companies do similarly and differently when it comes to implementing growth strategies.

RETAINING UNIQUENESS. While both Senate and Neuse now operate under the Fortress brand, an important goal for the newly combined company is that each firm maintains their foundation and what makes them unique.

“Senate and Neuse provide for different markets. There’s different nuances here. There’s different bugs there,” Stuart said. “The things that make them unique are not what we’re trying to wipe out by creating this infrastructure. It’s about sharing best practices. It’s about helping them out with infrastructure and providing that consistent customer experience.”

Throughout the process of creating Fortress, there have been transitions for each company. One of the most important transitions for Durieu has been having more time to do what he does best at Senate.

“It’s great to have more infrastructure [and] more support on a lot of the backend stuff,” Durieu said. “They took a lot of stuff off my plate [e.g., HR and payroll], so I can really focus on the business, focus on customers, focus on training and just doing what I love — working in the business and killing pests.”

The author is assistant editor at PCT.