Groundworks, the nation’s largest privately owned foundation services company, purchased AFS Foundation & Waterproofing Specialists. It was Groundworks’ 15th acquisition in four years.

The partnership joins two of the largest foundation services companies in the U.S. with a combined footprint spanning 23 states, 1,800 employees and more than $300 million in annual revenue.

AFSLogo AFS will retain its brand identity and ties to the local community to maintain the consumer recognition and goodwill established during its 20 years in business. At the same time, AFS will benefit from Groundworks’ large capital investments that will accelerate geographic expansion, enhance employee training and development, and provide new consumer technologies and back-office support. It will also gain the competitive advantage of offering consumers a national warranty that transfers when a home is sold.

“We have been on a remarkable growth track over the last few years, including opening three offices in the last 12 months,” said Ben Bayless, CEO and owner of AFS. “Joining the Groundworks group enables us to expand even faster, provide our team with new opportunities for professional growth, and simultaneously allow us to do business with the same values we have embraced for two decades.

“We selected Groundworks as our partner because, like AFS, they care about their people and they care about their customers. This is an ideal partnership that will benefit everyone in our company as well as every customer who uses our services.”

The acquisition advances Groundworks’ mission of creating the first national brand to provide foundation repair, basement waterproofing, crawl space repair and encapsulation, and concrete lifting.

The initiative began in May 2016, when Groundworks had just 190 employees in two states, revenues of $30 million, and a vision of bringing a fragmented industry under a single national umbrella to deliver world-class, consistent and uniform water management solutions to consumers while also providing professional growth opportunities for the skilled tradespeople of the foundation services industry.

AFS is Groundworks’ largest acquisition to date, adding more than 300 employees, more than $65 million in annual revenue, and seven offices serving Alabama, most of Tennessee, and several Georgia and Mississippi cities to the Groundworks brand family. The acquisition strengthens Groundworks’ presence in the Southeast and provides a launch pad for additional expansion in the region.

“AFS is not only the largest foundation services company in the Southeast. It’s also the best. Our partnership with the Bayless family and AFS team is transformational for our industry, as well as a strong cultural fit for our company in terms of their approach to the market, dedication to superior customer service, and commitment to their team,” said Matt Malone, CEO and founder of Groundworks. “With this acquisition, we now have a presence in nearly half the states in the U.S., we have served nearly 1 million homeowners, and we have added another important building block toward our goal of becoming the first and only national player in a $5 billion to $6 billion industry.”