NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Halle Capital, a growth-oriented private equity firm, today announced it has partnered with seasoned environmental services executive Jim Stamatis to launch True Environmental (“True”). True is building a platform to partner with and grow businesses in the environmental consulting, testing, inspection, and certification industry.
“We are thrilled to partner with Jim to form True Environmental,” said JP Gutfreund, Managing Partner at Halle Capital. “Jim has tremendous experience in the environmental industry. We believe the leadership qualities he has demonstrated throughout his career make him the right partner to help build a best-in-class player in a highly fragmented industry poised for continued growth. The environmental consulting industry benefits from durable secular tailwinds, including evolving regulation, climate change, aging infrastructure, and heightened awareness of environmental issues on the part of consumers, businesses, and policy makers, all of which provide for years of growth.”
Mr. Stamatis has over three decades of experience in the environmental industry. An environmental engineer by training, he started at Louis Berger in 1985 and, after responsibilities including President of International and President of North America, was appointed CEO of the company in 2015. During his tenure as CEO, Mr. Stamatis grew the company’s revenues by 65 percent to over $1 billion and the company’s EBITDA by more than 600 percent. In addition to organic growth, Jim oversaw the acquisition and integration of a number of strategically important businesses which extended his company’s service offerings. In 2018, he led Louis Berger’s successful sale to WSP, a publicly traded global professional services firm.
“I am excited to partner with Halle Capital to build a leading environmental consulting company,” said Mr. Stamatis. “Halle has demonstrated their ability to successfully launch platforms in highly fragmented industries with a strong operational focus. Their experience in working with entrepreneurs makes them a great partner to embark on this journey with True Environmental. After many years of working in this industry, I am convinced we are still in the early innings for growth and consolidation. We see exciting opportunities to partner with owners to provide liquidity and succession solutions, growth capital to broaden their service offerings and assistance with other functions such as accounting, human resources and marketing. Together, we’ll build a diverse set of capabilities to solve our country’s biggest environmental challenges while creating fulfilling and rewarding career paths for our talented employees.”