Riverside’s Latest Investment Makes Waves in Maritime Fire and Life Safety

The Riverside Company, a global private equity firm focused on the smaller end of the middle market, has acquired Alexander Gow as an add-on to its fire and life safety platform, Performance Systems Integration (PSI). Based in Portland, Oregon, PSI is a leading single source provider of fire and life safety services in the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Northern California and now, the Pacific. The company provides customers with fire and life safety services including system inspection, service and monitoring, equipment and first-aid sales, and cylinder repairs as well as installations for new construction and retrofits.

Alexander Gow is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and provides inspection, repair and installation of engineered and pre-engineered suppression systems for marine vessels, kitchen and special hazard applications in Washington, Oregon and Hawaii. Alexander Gow will retain the brand name, A.Gow, going forward.

“Alexander Gow is the twelfth add-on to PSI under Riverside’s ownership and further establishes PSI’s strong position in the Washington and Oregon markets while expanding PSI into the marine market and adding a new geographic footprint in Hawaii,” said Riverside Managing Partner Loren Schlachet. “There are compelling new growth opportunities resulting from the combination of Alexander Gow and PSI.”

“We are excited to have Alexander Gow as part of the PSI family,” said PSI CEO Jodi Crawford. “We look forward to building upon the century-old A.Gow legacy, known for exceptional customer service and strong OEM relationships. We will continue to serve the customer base that Alexander Gow has diligently established over its 100+ years of operation, proudly retaining the A.Gow brand name.”

PSI is committed to delivering high-quality customer service through its ‘single-point-of-management’ compliance services for all fire and life safety inspection, repair and installations in the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, the California Bay Area and Hawaii. PSI also operates cylinder requalification, cylinder maintenance and fire equipment parts distribution businesses under the Fire King brand. With decades of experience in the fire and life safety industry, PSI’s mission is to help save lives by providing meaningful fire and life safety protection and training.

This is one more example of Riverside’s commitment to the Business Services industry. Riverside has invested in more than 370 platform and add-on companies in the business services sector since 1988 as part of its private equity and structured capital strategies.

“The company is a great fit with PSI, and we are thrilled to add them to the platform,” said Riverside Partner John McKernan. “We will continue to pursue similar customer-focused fire protection companies with strong technicians and specializations in inspection, repair, maintenance and monitoring of fire and life safety equipment.”

Working with Schlachet and McKernan on the deal for Riverside were Assistant Vice President Aakeem Andrada, Analyst Nikolai Kassogue, Analyst Kyle Davis, Operating Partner Shaun Kelly and Finance Director Chrissie Yim. Origination Partner Cheryl Strom sourced the deal for Riverside.