Wind Point Partners Acquires MOREgroup
Chicago, Ill., January 17th, 2024 – Wind Point Partners (“Wind Point”), a Chicago-based private equity firm, announced today that it has partnered with MOREgroup (or the “Company”), a family of leading architecture and engineering brands focused on education, healthcare and government end markets. The Company offers a turnkey suite of architecture, design and adjacent engineering services including master planning, design execution, MEP engineering, structural engineering and program management. Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, MOREgroup employs over 700 employees and completes over 2,000 projects annually.
Wind Point is partnering with MOREgroup management, led by CEO Chris Huckabee and Executive President LaShae Baskin. Under Mr. Huckabee and Ms. Baskin’s leadership, the Company has experienced substantial growth through geographic expansion, service line extension and targeted acquisitions. MOREgroup’s senior management team will continue leading the business and has retained a meaningful ownership stake alongside Wind Point. Together, Wind Point and MOREgroup intend to expand on this track record with an organic and M&A-driven growth strategy oriented around the Company’s current end markets.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with Wind Point, who brings a strong track record of success in engineering services, a deep executive network and the resources to support our growth as we continue to do more for our clients and communities,” said Chris Huckabee, CEO of MOREgroup. “MOREgroup was founded on the idea of, ‘what we do matters, but how we do it matters more.’ As a family of brands, we embrace innovation and collaboration as the key to generating greater impact through our work. With Wind Point’s support, we are excited about building upon our foundation and creating a future that inspires our people, our clients and our communities. Together, we can achieve more and be more for those we serve.”
Nathan Brown, Managing Director with Wind Point, commented, “We are excited to partner with Chris, LaShae and the talented team at MOREgroup. They have built a tremendous platform and we look forward to supporting their expansion into new geographies and accelerating acquisition efforts as they grow the family of brands.”
Sean Lischke, Vice President with Wind Point, noted, “MOREgroup has developed a differentiated operating model and a clear leadership position in high-growth social infrastructure markets. We’re thrilled about the partnership and look forward to investing in the people, processes and capabilities to execute on our shared vision for value creation.”
Wind Point evaluated MOREgroup in partnership with Louis Armstrong, a member of Wind Point’s Executive Advisor Partner (“EAP”) network. Mr. Armstrong brings over 30 years of experience in creating value in C-Suite and Board-level roles across the engineering industry, including as CEO of Kleinfelder Group, a former Wind Point investment. Mr. Armstrong’s experience is highly complementary to MOREgroup’s leadership team and value creation plan.
Wind Point is an active investor in professional services businesses, with select prior and current investments including Kleinfelder Group, The Vertex Companies, Pavion and RailWorks. Reed Smith LLP served as legal counsel to Wind Point and KPMG LLP provided transaction advisory services in connection with the transaction. AEC Advisors served as financial advisor to MOREgroup.
About MOREgroup
MOREgroup innovates through brands that lead their market with focused expertise. Our family of brands serve healthcare and health science + technology, education, and public architecture—markets that contribute to a strong social infrastructure where generations thrive. Each brand retains the distinct focus that led it to success while also contributing to a network of services, expertise, and innovation that is shared across markets. Our family of brands include:
E4H Environments for Health Architecture is the largest architecture and interior design firm solely dedicated to healthcare and health science + technology. Their mission is to design environments that enhance healing, advance health research, and elevate hope. E4H serves for-profit and non-profit institutions across the nation.
Huckabee is a national leader in early education, K-12, and higher education learning environments. At the heart of everything they do is the belief that education changes the world and that every student matters. Huckabee is committed to the success of all students and the profound impact it has on all of us.
TSK is a public architecture design firm. They improve quality of life and create spaces where people thrive for generations through a commitment to community and design excellence. TSK serves civic, charter schools, justice, and public safety markets.
IEG is a mechanical, electrical, plumbing (MEP), and structural engineering firm that offers approachable solutions for a forward-thinking future. As an industry leader in MEP and structural engineering design, they have dedicated their efforts to educating clients in ways to become more environmentally friendly and cost effective in facility design. IEG serves education, civic, and healthcare markets. Additional information about MOREgroup is available at www.moregroup-inc.com.
About Wind Point Partners
Wind Point Partners is a Chicago-based private equity investment firm with approximately $6 billion in assets under management. The firm focuses on partnering with top caliber management teams to acquire well-positioned middle market businesses where it can establish a clear path to value creation. Founded in 1984, Wind Point is one of the oldest private equity firms in Chicago and an early adopter in developing a partnership model to align with top operating talent in private equity investments. Today, the firm’s Executive Advisor Partner (“EAP”) network is comprised of more than 40 high-caliber executives who are closely aligned with Wind Point and contribute across all aspects of the firm’s investment process.
Wind Point targets investments in the business services, consumer products and industrial products industries. Since inception, Wind Point has deployed ten private equity buyout funds in partnership with leading institutional investors around the world, including public pensions, insurance companies, endowments, foundations, fund of funds and family offices. Additional information about Wind Point is available at www.windpointpartners.com.