Canopy Lawn Care is the fourth brand added to Empower Brands’ portfolio this year, following the acquisitions of Bumble Roofing, Wallaby Windows and Koala Insulation.
“We believe that our partnership with Empower will enable us to scale the Canopy culture, our passion for people and, ultimately, the success of our franchisees as well,” said Ben Wright, Canopy’s chief operations officer.
The innovative lawn care brand started in 2016. Canopy is the 11th brand under the Empower umbrella. Empower was formed in 2022 after Lynx Franchising acquired Outdoor Livings brands in September 2021.
Empower’s other brands include Jan-Pro, Conserva Irrigation, Superior Fence and Rail, Archadeck Outdoor Living, Intelligent Office, Outdoor Lighting Perspectives and FRSTeam. Empower is a subsidiary of private equity firm MidOcean Partners.
Related: Empower Hits 10 Brands After Acquiring Bumble Roofing
North Carolina-based Canopy takes an environmentally friendly approach to its lawn care services in addition to incorporating technology that automates some of the brand’s processes. The company uses a monthly reoccurring revenue model and boasts more than 50,000 jobs done since its inception. Canopy has two territories, in Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina.
The joint venture began last year when Canopy and Empower were introduced, Wright said “The partnership just made sense,” he said.
“As soon as I walked through the doors” of the Richmond, Virginia, Empower office, “I felt like I was home,” Wright said.
The culture was “the ultimate driver for us,” Wright said. “The culture that we’ve worked really hard to cultivate at Canopy through the years, and then the culture that Empower has created and been able to scale, are just incredibly aligned.”
He continued, “Empower’s laser focus and passionate commitment to be franchisee first was something that was really striking to us,” Wright said. “The way that Empower has taken this approach with their other brands is really remarkable.”
Like with Empower’s previous acquisitions, not much is changing at Canopy. Empower will ignite a franchise opportunity to scale the brand, Wright said. “
In an interview earlier this year, Empower Chief Financial Officer Michael Borrecca told Franchise Times culture is the most important part of any acquisition.
“The financials have to work. You could have the best possible financial story in front of you, but if you have different mindsets or cultural fit, it’s going to be really difficult” to complete a deal and succeed going forward, Borrecca said.
In March, Empower CEO Scott Zide told Franchise Times one of Empower’s goals is to incubate brands by “finding a category that we would believe is ripe for a franchise, and starting a brand from scratch by maybe acquiring a local company-owned operations and building the franchise around that,” and using that as a “pilot location.”
The initial franchisee fee is $49,500, with start-up expenses ranging from $25,800 to $48,200.