Riverside Digs for Success with Latest Add-on

The Riverside Company, a global private investor focused on the smaller end of the middle market, has invested in Commonwealth Heritage Group, Inc. (CHG), a Michigan-based cultural resource management consulting firm. The acquisition is an add-on to Riverside’s portfolio company PaleoWest.

Founded in 1988, CHG helps public and private sector clients understand and mitigate the impact of construction and other land development projects on cultural resources. CHG’s services include archaeology, architectural history, ethnography, underwater archaeology and other related services.

“This is the first add-on for PaleoWest since our acquisition of the business at the end of 2021,” said Riverside Managing Partner Loren Schlachet. “We are excited by the additional scale CHG brings to the group. The two businesses’ geographic footprints are highly complementary, giving the combined platform a nationwide footprint and making it better suited for projects that span multiple geographies.”

Founded in 2006, PaleoWest is a cultural resource management firm that assists clients with their need to address federal, state and local level environmental regulations, typically in support of a wide variety of land development projects such as the permitting of solar and wind generation facilities, housing developments, roads and bridges and other major infrastructure development projects. PaleoWest’s practice focuses on archaeology, historic architecture, palaeontology and other related environmental services.

“We’re excited to offer the employees of both firms enhanced career opportunities and our clients better nationwide coverage,” said PaleoWest CEO Shawn Fehrenbach. “This union puts us in a stronger position to address challenges and shortcomings in our industry, such as wage disparity with similar industries, diversity among our workforce and fragmented national data standards in archaeology.”

CHG is another example of Riverside’s commitment to investing in the Business Services industry. To date, the firm has completed more than 300 investments in the sector and has a team of global experts dedicated to growing companies in this specialization.

“We are looking forward to working with the CHG team and continuing to grow the strong business they have built,” said Riverside Senior Partner Joe Lee. “CHG will expand PaleoWest’s service offering to include maritime archaeology, enabling the company to better serve the diverse needs of its customers.”

Working with Schlachet and Lee on this deal for Riverside were Assistant Vice President Elizabeth Burke, Associate Erin Reger, Analyst Baylor McCrary, Operating Partner John Gustafson and Finance Director David Mondrus. Managing Partner, Origination, Jeremy Holland sourced the deal for Riverside.