The Riverside Company Stays Fired up with Latest Add-on to CertaSite

The Riverside Company (Riverside), a global private investor focused on the smaller end of the middle market, has invested in Copp Systems, LLC (Copp), a security and fire protection business in Dayton, Ohio. This investment is the 23rd add-on to Riverside’s CertaSite® platform, a commercial fire protection and life safety company.

CertaSite provides the highest levels of customer service, responsiveness, building safety and code compliance to customers across the Midwest. The company goes beyond compliance, focusing on partnerships and professionalism while providing customers a simplified and dependable solution to managing all the fire protection and life safety systems in commercial buildings.

“Copp aligns well with our growth strategy for CertaSite,” said Riverside Micro-Cap Fund (RMCF) Managing Partner Loren Schlachet. “This investment brings expertise in security systems to the platform and presents attractive opportunities to cross-sell CertaSite’s full suite of offerings as a way to drive rapid growth.”

A well-established security and fire protection business with more than 100 years rooted in Dayton, Copp has extensive experience in providing full-service security solutions along with fire protection services for fire alarms and monitoring to their loyal customers. Copp’s solid reputation in the region will allow the company to grow its customer base and expand into new markets.
"As the seventh add-on in Ohio, we plan to leverage Copp’s solid reputation for continued growth and regional market expansion,” said Riverside Partner John McKernan. “We look forward to welcoming the Copp team to the CertaSite family.”

This acquisition is another example of Riverside’s commitment to investing in the Business Services Industry. The firm has completed over 340 investments in this area and has a team of global experts dedicated to growing companies in this specialization.

Working with Schlachet and McKernan on the deals for Riverside were Vice President Kenneth Johnson, Associate Caitlin McGrath, Analyst Reece Quigley, Operating Partner Cathy Skula, and Finance Director Alvin Tan. Partner of Origination Cheryl Strom sourced the deal for Riverside.