DANVILLE, Ill. (WCIA) — Watchfire Signs in Danville has a new owner.
Miami-based investment firm H.I.G. Capital manages more than 100 companies and is worth $50 billion. Now, one of its affiliates has purchased Watchfire.
Watchfire has been making signs for 90 years. Now, H.I.G. is partnering with the company’s current management to provide capital and resources to support its growing position across multiple segments of the digital display industry, including indoor and outdoor LED signs, digital billboards and video scoreboards. The company has installed more than 65,000.
“I am happy to be partnering with H.I.G. Capital to continue to drive growth, both organically and through aggressively pursuing add-on acquisition opportunities,” said Watchfire CEO Steve Harriott. “We are excited to leverage H.I.G.’s considerable experience investing in outdoor advertising companies to accelerate our own growth initiatives.”
“We believe Watchfire represents an ideal opportunity to invest in a premier provider of digital signage at a time when market tailwinds such as digital transformation and the replacement of aging signage will continue to drive growth,” said Ryan Kaplan, Managing Director at H.I.G. “We look forward to supporting Steve and the rest of his executive team as they continue to lead the company through its next exciting phase of expansion.”