McGuireWoods advised longtime private equity client Summit Park in the sale of its portfolio company, Fast Growing Trees (FGT), to Berkshire Partners. Cove Hill Partners participated in the transaction as a minority investor. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Headquartered in Charlotte, Summit Park invests in lower middle-market consumer, services and industrial growth businesses. FGT is a leading e-commerce direct-to-consumer provider of trees, shrubs and live goods.
McGuireWoods also represented Summit Park in its initial investment in FGT in February 2018 and FGT’s add-on acquisition of The Planting Tree in July 2021. During Summit Park’s ownership of FGT, the company more than quadrupled revenue and EBITDA.
Charlotte partner H. Ramsey White III led the McGuireWoods team representing Summit Park with assistance from associate Richard P. Massony Jr.
“We were proud to assist Summit Park in its initial investment in Fast Growing Trees and its successful sale of the company,” White said. “We look forward to continuing our longstanding relationship with our valued client.”
McGuireWoods consistently ranks among the leaders in U.S. and global M&A deals — including private equity transactions — in league tables published by Bloomberg and Refinitiv. The firm was recently rated a “powerhouse” for private company and straightforward M&A deals in a report published by BTI.