Acquisition Expands Greater Houston Footprint in Commercial Landscaping Industry

Houston, TX (January 11, 2024) – Ethoscapes, a prominent management player in the landscape care industry, is pleased to announce the successful acquisition of Outdoor Development (“Outdoor”). This strategic move marks Ethoscapes’ commitment to expanding its presence and enhancing its offerings and reach in the dynamic landscaping market. Outdoor Development joins Ethoscapes’ family of brands, which include Westco Ground Maintenance (“Westco”), Champions Hydro-Lawn (“Champions”), and Tree60, which now collectively serve over 500 commercial, municipal, and residential communities with over 550 dedicated personnel. The combined strength and expertise of Ethoscapes’ businesses creates a synergy that will undoubtedly benefit all customers in the Houston metropolitan area.

Outdoor Development was founded in 2001 by local Houstonian, Scott Bean, on the premise that the outdoors needs to be a functional space for people to gather and enjoy. It quickly established itself as a leader in providing high-quality landscaping maintenance and installation services.

“With the acquisition of Outdoor Development, Ethoscapes further strengthens its position as a comprehensive and wide-ranging landscaping solutions provider in the Greater Houston market,” said Manny González, CEO at Ethoscapes. “We are excited about the opportunities this partnership presents for our collective customers and the potential growth in the region.”

“Outdoor Development is strategically aligned with Ethoscapes’ vision of creating vibrant and sustainable outdoor spaces for customers and we are eager to build upon the Ethoscapes already successful business platform,” stated Bean, who has been promoted to Director of Sales at Ethoscapes. “We know that our customers will still receive the same excellent service as they do today, with the same level of commitment and professionalism during the seamless transition and beyond.” Greg Kichler, the former Outdoor General Manager, has been appointed the Director of Special Projects at Westco.

Ethoscapes is a proud portfolio company of Evolution Strategy Partners (“Evolution”), which played an integral role in the acquisition of Outdoor Development. “It was clear from our first introduction to Outdoor Development that their expertise, knowledge and high customer satisfaction would be a great fit with Ethoscapes,” stated Stenning Schueppert, Managing Partner of Evolution. “Outdoor will greatly contribute to Ethoscapes’ growth and success, now and in the future.”

Collectively, the Ethoscapes family of landscaping maintenance, installation, erosion control and tree care businesses are well-positioned to continue its ability to create and care for inspiring outdoor environments.

Ethoscapes, one of the largest landscaping solutions providers in greater Houston, acquires and partners with leading green space businesses to help them sustain and grow in their markets. The company provides the business support operations, investment, and efficiencies to allow landscape care companies to focus on delivering exceptional service to their commercial, municipal, and residential landscaping maintenance, installation, and tree care clients. Its unique partnership model removes the operations bandwidth strain which inhibits the landscaping businesses’ stability and growth potential. Its family of landscaping businesses include Westco Ground Maintenance, Champions Hydro-Lawn, Outdoor Development and Tree60, which combined provides over 550 professionals for over 500 MUDs, HOAs, business parks, municipal parks, and leading corporate campuses.

Evolution Strategy Partners is a differentiated private equity firm with a unique approach to conducting business: It considers its portfolio companies as true partners, not purely investments. Evolution values and respects the people with whom they work believes its value-added involvement is only beginning at the time a transaction closes. They stay engaged and empower company leaders to accelerate the true potential of their businesses. Evolution’s primary focus is on entrepreneur-owned businesses but it remains flexible to explore other opportunities where their knowledge and interests are aligned. Evolution targets industrial and commercial service businesses with under $75 million in revenue and select only a handful of new platform opportunities to pursue each year.