Monroe Capital Backs Osprey’s Entry into Texas Landscape Market with Earthworks Buy

In a move underscoring the rapid roll-up momentum across the commercial landscaping sector, Osprey Landscape Group has acquired Earthworks, Inc., a well-established Texas provider of landscaping services. Monroe Capital supported the transaction by structuring the senior debt financing, enabling Osprey (a Southfield Capital portfolio company) to accelerate its geographic and service expansion into key Sun Belt markets.

Deal Summary

Acquirer: Osprey Landscape Group, a commercial landscaping platform backed by lower middle-market private equity firm Southfield Capital.

Target: Earthworks, Inc., operating in Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston, offering a broad suite of services including maintenance, irrigation, enhancement, tree care, and floriculture.

Financing: Monroe Capital served as sole lead arranger and administrative agent for the senior credit facility facilitating the acquisition.

Strategic Rationale: The deal gives Osprey access to Texas markets where Earthworks has deep roots and a strong reputation, while also adding a longtime team and operational infrastructure.

Geographic Expansion: With this acquisition, Osprey significantly strengthens its presence in rapidly growing metropolitan areas in Texas.

Legacy and Leadership: Earthworks’ leadership (Chris Lee, CEO) and core team will remain, aligning with Osprey’s model of integrating legacy operators.

Industry Context

The commercial landscaping space is consolidating rapidly, as platforms with capital backing acquire regional players to build a national footprint. Osprey’s purchase of Earthworks is consistent with this trend, demonstrating the growing role of private credit in enabling platform roll-ups. As institutional capital flows into service-business platforms, lower middle market companies - once constrained by geographic reach and capital intensity - are being aggregated into scalable, multi-market operators.

Texas, with its favorable economics, high-growth commercial real estate sector, and increasing demand for professional landscape services, is a natural target for such consolidation. By acquiring Earthworks, Osprey not only gains a strong foothold in two major metro regions, but also inherits a team with deep local knowledge and technical competence.

Lower-Middle-Market Roll-Up Perspective

From a roll-up strategy viewpoint, this transaction highlights several important themes:

• Regional Expertise + Scale: Osprey is executing on a geography play - adding a respected regional leader in a high-growth market rather than building organically.
• Capital Structure Optimization: Monroe Capital’s role as lead arranger underscores how private credit is critical to funding platform-building deals in the lower middle market.
• Preservation of Operational DNA: By retaining Earthworks’ leadership and workforce, Osprey mitigates integration risk and protects customer relationships.
• Service Diversification: The transaction deepens Osprey’s full-service capabilities (maintenance, enhancement, tree care, etc.) in a new region.
• Value Creation Engine: The merger supports Osprey’s long-term value-creation blueprint - combining local legacy firms with platform-level efficiency and capital.

Why This Sector Is Attractive for Roll-Ups

• Fragmented Landscape: Many commercial landscaping firms remain fragmented, offering consolidation opportunities for capital-backed platforms.
• Durable Demand: Maintenance services - irrigation, tree care, enhancement - deliver recurring revenue that aligns well with buy-and-build models.
• Capital Efficiency: Platforms like Osprey can deliver incremental growth and margin expansion through operational improvements rather than greenfield investments.
• Platform Scalability: M&A enables rapid geographic scale and cross-selling of services, accelerating growth in a local-intensive business.
• Private Credit Role: Lenders like Monroe are increasingly supporting lower middle market M&A, providing flexible capital to roll-up sponsors.

Conclusion

The Earthworks acquisition marks a major step in Osprey Landscape Group’s evolution into a multi-region commercial landscaping platform. With Monroe Capital providing the financing backbone, Osprey gains both geographic reach into Texas and local team strength - positioning it for further growth in high-potential markets.

For regional landscaping businesses, this deal highlights the potential benefit of joining a well-funded platform that values legacy while delivering operational capabilities. For investors and operators, it reinforces the thesis that combining platform capital with proven operators remains a powerful lever for building scale in service-intensive markets.