Pittsburgh — Spilman Thomas & Battle is pleased to announce that a series of transactions led by Spilman attorney Ron Schuler for Spilman client JSA Estate Management LLC (JSA), an affiliate of Appalachian Capital Holdings LLC (AppCap), wholly owned by Jason Allevato, were recently honored as the 2023 “Private Equity Deal of the Year” by the Columbus chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG).

AppCap facilitated an affiliate reorganization with The Crane Group of Columbus of its acquisitions of five estate management/landscaping companies, whereby Crane became the controlling entity of JSA and AppCap remained a co-investor. The Crane Group received the “Private Equity Deal of the Year” award from ACG. Crane now has rebranded the assets as Fairwood Brands LLC.

Schuler, who has been practicing corporate, M&A, and securities law for more than 30 years, led the Spilman team in designing the capital structure of an affiliate of JSA, and negotiating and closing the acquisitions, the underlying financing transactions, and the sale of equity to Crane. He had key assistance on the transactions from his Pittsburgh colleagues Shane Riley, Alison Sacriponte, Jonathan Deasy, and Peter Rich, and Charleston, West Virginia-based partner Paul Papadopoulos.

Schuler serves as Member in Charge of Spilman’s Pittsburgh office and is a two-time Best Lawyers’ Pittsburgh “Lawyer of the Year” for Mergers and Acquisitions. He was a lead member of the City of Pittsburgh's legal team for the planning and construction of PNC Park, home to Major League Baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates, and wrote the "Forbes Field II Task Force Final Report" (1996), the urban planning justification for PNC Park's location. He also is the founding chairman of Pittsburgh's community-supported jazz radio station, WZUM-FM, and the author of an American history book set in Pittsburgh, THE STEEL BAR: PITTSBURGH LAWYERS AND THE MAKING OF AMERICA (Marquez Press 2019).

About Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC
Spilman Thomas & Battle is a full-service, super-regional law firm serving local, regional, national, and international businesses. Founded in 1864, Spilman has offices in Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Charleston, Morgantown, and Wheeling, West Virginia; Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Roanoke, Virginia; and St. Augustine, Florida.

About Appalachian Capital Holdings, LLC
Appalachian Capital is a small investment office that manages the assets of select families and individuals. As a family office, AppCap is interested in long-term investment partnerships, and its permanent capital base allows it to build and hold its platform investments for generations, rather than the short-term horizons constraining most private equity funds. AppCap recently was named to the 2023 Most Active Family Offices on Axial list. For more information on AppCap, please visit www.appcapholdings.com.

About Association for Corporate Growth
Founded in 1954, ACG is the premier M&A deal-making community with a mission of driving middle-market growth. ACG’s global network operates within 61 local markets worldwide and comprises more than 100,000 middle market professionals who invest in, own, and advise growing companies. For more information, please visit www.acg.org.