LongWater Private Equity Partners with Founder of Blastco, Initiating a National Industrial Coatings Platform

DALLAS & FARGO, N.D.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--LongWater Private Equity (“LongWater”) today announced it has acquired a majority stake in Blastco (“Blastco” or the “Company”), a Channelview, Texas-based provider of surface preparation, industrial coatings and tank rehabilitation services. The investment was made in partnership with Blastco’s existing leadership team, including Jay Soper, who will continue to lead the Company. Terry Warren, owner of TF Warren Group & founder of Blastco, will retain a minority ownership stake and will serve on the board of directors moving forward.

Founded in 1983, Blastco delivers field coatings solutions for customers across municipal, federal, midstream and industrial sectors.

The Blastco investment is the result of LongWater’s many months of thesis work in the industrial coatings space. Over the past year, the LongWater team studied the industrial coatings sector, mapping end markets across energy, industrial and federal infrastructure and meeting with operators throughout the industry. That work identified a highly fragmented market of founder- and family-owned contractors, supported by recurring maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) demand from an aging base of industrial assets. Blastco will serve as the anchor of a national platform, with LongWater and Company management planning to pursue add-on acquisitions that expand Blastco’s geographic footprint, service offering and customer relationships.

“Industrial coatings is exactly the kind of critical infrastructure services industry we look for at LongWater,” said Neil West, Senior Managing Director at LongWater. “We spent a significant amount of time developing a perspective on value in the industry before engaging, and Blastco stood out for its people, its safety culture and its reputation with customers. We believe there is a significant opportunity to build a differentiated national platform, and we’re proud to partner with Jay and the team to do it.”

“Thank you to all the customers, suppliers and business associates I have been privileged to work with over the years. I am truly grateful for the relationships we have built, the friendships we have developed and the many great experiences along the way. I look forward to continuing these relationships and partnering with LongWater to build on the successes of the past and create new opportunities for the future,” said Terry Warren, Founder of Blastco & TF Warren Group.

“Our team has built Blastco on doing the job right and doing it safely, and that won’t change,” said Jay Soper, Vice President of Blastco. “LongWater took the time to understand our business and our customers, and they bring the capital, operating resources and acquisition experience to help us grow faster than we could on our own. This partnership gives our employees and our customers a lot to be excited about.”

“Blastco gives us a strong foundation to execute on our industrial coatings thesis,” said Bobby Astrup, Vice President at LongWater. “We’ve already built relationships with a number of high-quality coatings contractors across the country, and we look forward to working alongside Jay and the team to bring like-minded businesses onto the platform while preserving what makes each of them special.”

Ice Miller served as legal counsel to LongWater. Katz Sapper & Miller served as financial & tax diligence advisor.

For add-on acquisition opportunities, please contact Bobby Astrup at [e-mail].

AboutLongWater

Founded in 2009, LongWater is a private markets investor with offices in Fargo, ND, Dallas, TX, St. Louis, MO and Boston, MA. LongWater is a premier access point to the lower middle market through its Private Equity and Capital Solutions strategies. LongWater Private Equity makes thesis-driven, majority investments in strong lower middle market businesses in the industrial spaces it knows best, partnering with founders and management teams to drive value.