Beachwood-based Scale Community Inc. has made its first acquisition, snagging a Detroit-based payment plan program management company that serves the automotive industry.
ScaleCo is buying a controlling stake in Budco Financial from Beachwood's Evolution Capital Partners in a deal valued at $10.5 million.
Last year, Evolution co-founder Brendan Anderson branched out and launched ScaleCo to meet his desire to hold sustained growth businesses for a longer period of time.
“The more I thought about starting ScaleCo, I started to imagine what if we had a company that provided investors with top-tier returns while guaranteeing the development and inspiration of future entrepreneurs?” Anderson said. “That’s the vision — something I know is possible.”
As of now, the ownership structure gives ScaleCo a 58 percent interest, founder and CEO Bud Brian about 40 percent of the company and four members of the management group owning the remaining 2 percent, Anderson says.
“The management group has an incentive that could get them up to 48 or 49 percent, but we’ll always retain a bit of a majority,” he says.
Evolution Capital Partners acquired Budco in 2012 and established a technology platform, expanded customer service capabilities, increased employment by 50 percent and introduced new product avenues to deliver vehicle service contracts.
