Try to say this three times quickly: Prometheus Partners LP has bought Porta-Jon
of the Piedmont Inc.
In fact, it was more than a simple, alliterative buyout of a local portable
toilet company; it's the beginning of a roll-up. Prometheus invested in a
recapitalization of Charlotte, N.C.-based Porta-Jon and combined it with
Spanky’s Portable Services Inc. of Escondido, Calif., which Prometheus has owned
since 2004. (The roll-up may make business sense, but it will come at the
expense of two colorful names. The merged business will be known as — yawn
— Portable Facilities Holdings Inc.)
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Prometheus did not disclose the deal values or other financial information, but
the Atlanta private equity firm's average target has an enterprise value of
about $100 million.
The porta-potty industry has its appeal — to private equity firms, anyway. The
industry's largest operator, United Site Services Inc. of Westborough, Mass.,
has passed through the hands of two private equity owners: Credit Suisse Group's
buyout arm, DLJ Merchant Banking, bought it from Odyssey Investment Partners
last year. — John E. Morris and Paul Bonanos
