48Forty bought out other pallet makers, at least twelve in a series of rollups.
Audax monetized their 48Forty stake in 2024.
Audax just bankrupted Renovo, a rollup of regional home renovation companies. Another affiliate implosion would have hurt.
Does this portend anything for other PEU rollups, HVAC companies, veterinarian offices, dental practices, hospices....?
Private equity birthed private credit as a means to leverage their greed and leverage. It looks like they may begin eating each other, once again.
The backdoor takeover returns, where equity holders hand the keys over to debt holders. They don't show up with a tow truck anymore, just lawyers with paperwork.
That's two more areas for rollups, law firms and travel breakdown response. I think you might be getting the picture.
Note: An HVAC company helped me yesterday. At the end of the call the service tech said they'd just instituted a 2.5% charge for the use of a credit/debit card. He did not seem excited to be sharing this information. I told him I would call his office and find out how I can pay and avoid the fee.
I called and learned that I could physically bring a check into their office. They could not take my checking account number and process a payment. They did not offer Zelle, Venmo, PayPal or CashApp. I could not use Bitcoin, which is good as I have none.
I told them let's make this even more old school. You mail me the bill and I mail you a check. When the PEU boys want to charge a fee, they charge a fee. Avoiding their millage is extremely difficult, irritating and time consuming.
