Birch Hill buys TruGreen, ending CD&R's 19-year hold on lawn care leader
What's the deal? Birch Hill Equity Partners, a Toronto-based middle-market private equity firm, has acquired TruGreenDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the largest residential lawn care provider in the US, from Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R). The deal, announced November 13, 2026, closes out a 19-year sponsor relationship. Terms were not disclosed.
What each side brings: Founded in 1973, TruGreen offers lawn, tree and shrub, and pest services across more than 290 locations in the US and Canada, with over 14,000 employees. Birch Hill manages over $6 billion in assets and has experience owning route-based service businesses.
Why now? TruGreen faces a maturity wall, with about $1.4 billion of term loans coming due in 2027 and 2028, according to Octus. It engaged a bank this spring to explore a sale. Second-quarter revenue rose about 4% to $578.5 million, with adjusted EBITDA up 6% to roughly $133.8 million.
The backstory: CD&R's ownership began with its 2007 take-private of ServiceMasterDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, which spun TruGreen out in 2014. A 2016 deal folded in Scotts LawnServiceDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, giving Scotts about 30% of a combined business with roughly $1.3 billion in revenue; Scotts sold that stake back in 2019.
What's the endgame? "With our shared belief in our vision of becoming the best, fastest-growing and most valuable lawn care company in the world, it is clear the best days for TruGreen are still ahead," said Kurt Kane, president and chief executive officer of TruGreen.
Goldman SachsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → advised TruGreen and CD&R. William Blair and TD SecuritiesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → advised Birch Hill.
The signal: The sale fits a busy market for lawn and landscape services, where private-equity-backed platforms have kept buying regional operators. But TruGreen dwarfs those targets, making its change of hands a notable sponsor-to-sponsor transaction rather than another roll-up — and handing a national residential platform to a Canadian firm with a fresh capital structure.
Read more: finance.yahoo.com
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