Kian Capital Announces Strategic Investment in Diamond Landscaping

By Kian Capital Partners

6/30/2024

Kian Capital Announces Strategic Investment in Diamond Landscaping and Continues Expansion in the Luxury Residential Landscaping Sector

Kian partnered with Diamond Landscaping in 2021 and has since completed five acquisitions, nearly tripling revenue and EBITDA

ATLANTA, GA and CHARLOTTE, NC (June 26, 2024) Kian Capital Partners (“Kian”), a lower-middle-market-focused private investment firm, announced its partnership with Diamond Landscaping. Kian partnered with Founder and CEO Brian Diamond in December 2021 and has since completed a multitude of strategic growth initiatives to enhance service capabilities, expand the leadership team and continually invest to support sustainable growth in the Diamond Landscaping platform.

Founded by Brian Diamond in 1991, Diamond Landscaping is a leader in the luxury residential landscaping space. The platform focuses on providing white-glove service to high-net-worth residential clients in the broader Los Angeles market. Since partnering with Kian, the platform has expanded its footprint and now serves clients in the broader Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, the Hamptons and Jackson Hole markets. The company offers custom installation and craftsmanship, creating beautiful landscapes that are thoughtfully maintained via recurring service contracts.

Since partnering with Kian, Diamond Landscaping has nearly tripled revenue and EBITDA through a combination of organic and acquisitive growth initiatives. The platform has completed five strategic acquisitions, partnering with established operators in key geographies to build additional density in existing markets and plant flags in new high-end residential markets, including Mahoney Associates in Southampton, NY; Pardee & Fleming in Los Angeles, CA; MountainScapes in Jackson Hole, WY; Steve Hanson Landscaping in Santa Barbara, CA; and James H. Cowan & Associates in Los Angeles, CA. With Kian’s backing, Diamond Landscaping aims to continue partnering with leading operators in high-end residential landscaping markets to foster growth while respecting and preserving the legacies of the acquired businesses.

“Since founding Diamond Landscaping, I have worked to build an organization based on the core values of honesty, hard work and trust,” said Diamond Landscaping Founder and CEO Brian Diamond. “It was clear from the beginning that Kian shares these values, and they have been a collaborative partner as we have grown the business. Our collective goal is to build the leading luxury residential landscaping business in the U.S. by partnering with operators and key executives who take pride in creating unique gardens and maintaining them with consistent white-glove service. Over the years, we have grown substantially and accomplished many key milestones to position the business for future growth. As I look to the future, we remain focused on driving growth in our existing markets, entering targeted new areas, investing in our team and ensuring that we maintain the top level of service for our loyal clients.”

Diamond Landscaping has also made several key hires and partnerships, recruiting industry veterans to bolster the platform and equip the company for enduring growth. Tom Powell and Roger Zino joined as CFO and Executive Chairman & Board Member, respectively, in the fall of 2023. Powell is a highly experienced finance executive, bringing over 20 years of industry experience to the position and focusing on acquisition integration, professionalization of accounting capabilities and serving as a thought partner to the operating executives at Diamond. Zino has vast operating experience in the broader landscaping and home service sectors, serving as a valuable resource for Diamond Landscaping’s partner companies. Additional notable hires include Suzanne Wilutis as EVP and Regional Manager of Mahoney Associates, Christian Galindo as Branch Manager of Diamond Maintenance and Chas McClure as Maintenance Division Leader at Steve Hanson Landscaping. Looking to the future, the Diamond leadership team seeks opportunities to partner with industry leaders focused on driving sustainable growth across the expanding platform.

“Look, Diamond Landscaping is cool. Brian Diamond has a strong combination of creativity, operational ingenuity and customer relationship mastery that enables the business to create and maintain some of the coolest luxury residential landscapes in the country,” said Executive Chairman & Board Member Roger Zino. “The business is built upon practical horticulture enabling the creation of truly beautiful, customized environments for people to enjoy life in with their loved ones. Further, Brian has such great energy and passion that he attracts committed entrepreneurial residential landscape professionals, both in his market and from other markets, who eagerly want to be part of what we are doing here – unique landscapes, passionate gardeners, and loyal customers. Somedays it simply feels like a master class of who can create the coolest gardens. I am having a blast – the opportunity to lend my experience to build a growing platform for such talented entrepreneurs built in a unique way that honors the gardening profession is something that fires me up.”

“Brian Diamond has built a strong reputation as a leading operator in the luxury residential landscaping sector,” said Kian Principal David Hare. “We believe that there is a significant opportunity to execute a disciplined buy-and-build growth strategy within this fragmented sector by partnering with strong operators in key markets across the U.S. It has been extremely rewarding to see the success of the business to date and we look forward to supporting the team through additional strategic acquisitions and further investments in technology and talent to enable sustainable growth.”

Diamond Landscaping is actively seeking partnerships with operators focused on providing top-level service in core luxury residential markets across the U.S. Business owners interested in learning more should contact David Duke, Partner, Business Development at Kian, at dduke@kiancapital.com.

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About Diamond Landscaping

For 30 years, Diamond Landscaping has been a leader in the luxury residential landscaping space, focused on installing and maintaining residential landscapes for high-net-worth clients in broader Los Angeles and in key geographies across the United States. Diamond’s team of world-class craftsmen focuses on custom landscape installation, meticulous craftsmanship, and long-term recurring maintenance services to provide one-of-a-kind outdoor living spaces for the company’s loyal clients. Through key strategic partnerships, Diamond now has locations in the broader Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, the Hamptons and Jackson Hole markets. To learn more, visit www.diamondlandscaping.com.

About Kian Capital Partners

At Kian, we forge partnerships to ignite growth and build enduring value. Our goal is to provide flexible financial resources and additional operational horsepower to scale lower-middle-market businesses, realize aspirations and deliver long-term investment returns through genuine partnership. Proud to be recognized on Inc.’s Founder-Friendly Investors list for three consecutive years, Kian is a private investment firm with $825 million of capital under management and a focus on four core industry sectors: consumer, services, value-added distribution and specialty manufacturing. Our team of seasoned investors has over 100 years of collective experience providing transformational capital solutions and board-level strategic and operational guidance to founder/owner operated businesses. To learn more, visit www.kiancapital.com.

ALLIE GAMBLE

Vice President

MiddleM Creative ◥

M 704.280.1432

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