LAYTONSVILLE, MD—Ruppert Landscape is pleased to announce the acquisition of New River Landscape, a Raleigh, NC-based company that provides commercial grounds management services. The transaction includes the purchase of selected commercial landscape management contracts, trucks, equipment and the hiring of several employees. The commercial clients are primarily based in the counties of Wake, Orange, Durham Counties, Robeson and Guilford.
“This is the second acquisition in two months for Ruppert in Raleigh market,” says President Chris Davitt. “These additions were part of a targeted plan to grow our business in this very vibrant market. New River Landscape represents a key piece of this plan as they brought to the table a very prestigious list of customers in the Raleigh area. Any time we can align ourselves with a group of individuals who have successfully exceeded customers’ expectations it makes us a stronger team.”
Ruppert Landscape’s growth has historically been organic in the East Coast markets it serves. “Our intention in the Raleigh market is to use these two key acquisitions as building blocks upon which we can continue to grow more traditionally, keeping with our company’s roots of being a family-owned, regional business that is focused on keeping our customers happy and developing long-term relationships,” says Davitt.
New River Landscape has been doing business in the Raleigh metropolitan area for more than three years, and was founded by David Blakely, an industry veteran with more than 30 years of experience. Blakely is the majority owner of New River Landscape and will continue to run a related business he owns that services Charlotte and other markets.
“When we began talks with Ruppert about this deal, we were interested in finding an organization that would provide the level of service and responsiveness that our customers had grown to expect and I think we found that with Ruppert,” says Blakely. The company’s minority owner, Jeff Sosa, who has been largely responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company’s operation in Raleigh, has agreed to stay on with Ruppert in a management capacity. He brings more than 20 years of industry experience, and will be an invaluable asset in the transition and restructuring that will occur.
“I am looking forward to the new challenges that working with Ruppert will bring,” says Sosa. “I hope that my involvement, along with the other 22 employees who will now be employed by Ruppert, will help make this transition seamless for our customers.”
