Houlihan Lokey Advises The Granite Group

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that The Granite Group, a portfolio company of BBH Capital Partners (BBHCP), has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Watsco, Inc.

The Granite Group is a third-generation, family-led distributor of heating and cooling, plumbing, PVF, and complementary products. The company serves approximately 11,000 customers from 82 locations and offers approximately 29,000 SKUs sourced from more than 450 vendors. The Granite Group has achieved a 10% annual compounded growth rate in sales since 2010 through a combination of bolt-on acquisitions and more than 30 new store openings to win new customers and better serve existing customers. Founded in 1971 and headquartered in Concord, New Hampshire, the company serves customers across seven states: New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New York.

BBHCP is a private equity strategy of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., offering friendly capital solutions to growth-oriented middle-market companies. BBHCP’s flexible investment mandate allows the support of a variety of transactions, including buyouts, growth financings, recapitalizations, and acquisitions, acting as a control or noncontrol investor.

Watsco is the largest distributor in the highly fragmented North American HVAC market. Since entering distribution in 1989, Watsco has achieved an 18% compounded annual total shareholder return through a combination of organic growth and the acquisition of more than 70 market-leading businesses. Watsco maintains a solid balance sheet, enabling sustained investments in growth, including Watsco’s industry-leading technologies. Today, more than 70,000 contractors and technicians engage digitally, empowering them to adopt and integrate Watsco’s tools into their daily operations. Watsco is also introducing AI-driven initiatives to leverage its extensive data assets and enrich the customer experience. Watsco believes its technology ecosystem represents a durable and widening competitive advantage in its highly fragmented industry.

Houlihan Lokey served as the exclusive financial advisor to The Granite Group and assisted in initiating, structuring, and negotiating the transaction on its behalf. This transaction highlights the firm’s continued success advising market-leading specialty distributors of residential and commercial HVAC, plumbing, and PVF products, as well as our success delivering superior client service with outstanding results.

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