What the owner wanted. What we did. How it ended.
Four recent Hillandale mandates across the Carolinas and the Southeast — two sales, one growth investment, and one buy-side search for a private equity sponsor. Project names stay confidential until the owner says otherwise.
Project Rock
A $25 million+ sale of a Carolinas owner's-representative and project-management firm to CSL Consulting, a portfolio company of NMS Capital.
The owner's objective
The founders had built a full-service design, planning and construction-management firm with offices in Charlotte, Charleston, Columbia, Greensboro and Savannah — $4.3 million of EBITDA and a $50 million signed backlog. The goal: get paid for the backlog and the margins, not just trailing earnings, and choose a partner with the capital to keep growing across three states.
The Hillandale solution
We built the equity story around what buyers rarely see in a firm this size — 30–40% EBITDA margins, 80% gross margins and contracted revenue years out — then ran a competitive process aimed at sponsors and strategics who could underwrite the backlog, not discount it.
The process
- 01Valuation & positioning. Comps and transactions to set a defensible range; backlog, pipeline and margin data packaged for an investment committee.
- 02Buyer list. Private equity platforms and strategic acquirers in AEC services, pulled by name from our own database.
- 03Confidential launch. Teaser in January 2025; 100+ buyers signed NDAs and received the CIM, followed by management meetings with the most qualified.
- 04Competing offers. Six offers, negotiated side by side on price, structure and the owners' roles after close.
- 05Diligence & close. Quality of earnings and legal diligence managed to a July 2025 close with CSL Consulting and NMS Capital.
Project Titan
A $20 million+ sale of a premium residential door manufacturer to a family office, after a process that drew 150+ NDAs and 20 offers.
The owner's objective
Two decades in, the founders had a high-margin door brand sold through 600+ distributors in more than 40 states, built on a proprietary manufacturing platform. They wanted a clean exit at a full price — and a long-term owner who would protect the brand, the distributor relationships and the team.
The Hillandale solution
Co-advising with Red Clay Advisors, we positioned Titan as a national outdoor-living platform rather than a regional manufacturer, and cast the widest net we have run: private equity, strategics and family offices with committed capital and a record of completed acquisitions.
The process
- 01Positioning. Distribution footprint, margin profile and manufacturing IP turned into a platform story.
- 02Launch. Confidential process launched November 2025 alongside Red Clay Advisors.
- 03Broad outreach. 150+ buyers signed NDAs and received the CIM.
- 04Competitive bids. 20 offers narrowed to a short list on value, certainty and fit.
- 05Close. Sale to a family office buyer with a long-term hold horizon.
Project Switch
A $2 million growth investment by a Hillandale investor group in Touchstone Electric, a residential and commercial electrical platform.
The owner's objective
Demand was not the constraint — capital was. The owner needed money to add crews, equipment and commercial capacity across three Carolinas markets, without selling the company or handing control to an institutional fund.
The Hillandale solution
Rather than a full sale, we structured a growth round as a convertible note — capital in now, with a 25% PIK yield and upside participation for investors as the company scales — and brought it to investors who own trades businesses themselves. Hillandale stayed on as an operating partner, not just a check.
The process
- 01Structure. Sized the raise to the growth plan and chose an instrument that kept the owner in control.
- 02The memo. Built the way an investment committee reads it — unit economics, customer reviews, use of proceeds.
- 03The right partners. A focused Hillandale investor group, not a blast to hundreds of funds.
- 04Terms & close. $2 million invested in March 2025, followed by ongoing operating and board-level support.
Project Rentals
Engaged by a Top 25 US private equity firm to source a $5–10 million EBITDA rental platform in the Carolinas.
The sponsor's objective
Build a platform in portable sanitation and temporary fencing across North and South Carolina — a fragmented, family-owned industry where the best operators are not for sale and never show up on a banker's teaser list.
The Hillandale solution
We work on a monthly retainer plus a success fee. Through the Private Business Roundtable we have relationships with 1,000+ owners and operators across the Carolinas — so when we reach out to a rental company, it is a warm call from someone in their network, not a cold call from a fund.
The process
- 01Mandate. Target size, geography and deal structures agreed with the sponsor — full sale, majority recap with rollover, or growth capital.
- 02Market map. 58 Carolinas operators identified and ranked by verified fleet size using FMCSA/USDOT data.
- 03Owner outreach. Warm, confidential conversations through our network — NDA signed before any financials change hands.
- 04Next: LOIs and platform close. Underway now.
Which one looks like your situation?
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Two weeks. Comparable companies, comparable transactions, and a range we can defend line by line. Free, confidential, and no obligation. One reply from Matt within a day.