How PE-backed Easton Select Group Closed 6 Deals in 5 Months and Hit $10M EBITDA, Using DealRoom

About the Company

Pool and backyard leisure company Easton Select Group was founded 50 years ago and is a second-generation family-run business. In 2024, the Massachusetts-based firm became PE-backed through its acquisition by Brenton Point Capital Partners. The resulting cash infusion allowed Easton Select Group to pursue an aggressive growth strategy driven by roll-up acquisitions. 

The group encompasses a portfolio of brands, including Easton Pool & Spa, Plunge Pool Concepts, Atlantic Water Services, Christman Pool Service, Shore Pools, Environmental Pools, Sweetwater Pool Service, and Island Pools. The growing demand for custom pools, pools designed for smaller yards (particularly the company’s patented plunge pools), and the associated maintenance and cleaning services, made Easton a standout in this highly fragmented industry, setting the stage for roll-ups at scale. 

Challenges

As Easton Select Group launched its acquisition strategy, the team quickly realized how steep the M&A learning curve could be, especially when working with sellers who were new to the process. Most acquisitions were owner-operated businesses that had to balance day-to-day operations with tasks related to due diligence and integration, often for the first time. Many lacked deep technical acumen, making it critical that any tools introduced during the process were intuitive, easy to navigate, and didn’t add unnecessary complexity.

At the same time, they were navigating a brand-new partnership with Brenton Point Capital Partners. The added pressure of delivering results for their new PE partner introduced a heightened sense of urgency and scrutiny. With multiple siloed systems and many stakeholders to herd, both sides found it difficult to surface important information and provide real-time visibility into deal status.

In addition, they were managing rapid acquisition growth and racing to scale their team. That meant hiring enough team members to support their efforts, and clearly defining roles and responsibilities early, especially across senior leadership, to maintain deal flow and avoid bottlenecks. In anticipation of future growth, the firm also had to determine the right capital structure and financing strategy. 

Easton Select Group faced the challenge of managing rapid change while adapting to new expectations, budgets, and operational updates. As a result, their initial acquisitions proved difficult. The team soon realized they had underestimated the complexity of integration—a critical phase that, if poorly executed, could derail their roll-up strategy and undermine efforts to align sellers through equity ownership. They also lacked a centralized system to track deal progress or coordinate across teams. Without clear alignment, the momentum behind their strategy—and the credibility of their equity narrative—was at risk.

Negative Business Impacts

Execution gaps and missed handoffs: Without connected tools, teams struggled to track progress, stay accountable, and keep stakeholders aligned—putting execution at risk across the deal lifecycle.

Strategic execution at risk: Disconnected systems and poor integration planning made it difficult to scale efficiently—putting Easton’s roll-up strategy in jeopardy and threatening the broader goals of their PE-backed growth plan.

Slowed deals and mounting friction: Without a strong grasp of diligence workflows, both buy-side teams and sellers ran into repeated roadblocks—slowing momentum, increasing back-and-forth, and making it harder to close on time.

Inconsistent execution and mounting pressure: Wide variability in deal size and complexity made it difficult to apply a repeatable process—intensifying risk during Easton’s critical early-stage acquisitions.

To achieve their aggressive roll-up goals, Easton Select Group needed to streamline both due diligence and integration while also aligning all stakeholders around goals, tasks, and resources. 

Solution

Eager to move their roll-up acquisitions forward, the Easton Select Group started reviewing potential M&A management platforms that could support both speed and structure. With its easy-to-use interface, real-time BI reporting, and streamlined due diligence and integration workstreams, DealRoom stood out as a perfect fit. 

Just as important, it gave Easton Select Group and their new PE partner, Brenton Point Capital Partners, a shared source of truth. DealRoom kept both teams aligned on deliverables, timelines, and deal progress—eliminating the confusion and friction that often slow down first-time partnerships. It also served as a critical resource around processes and logistics as both groups adapted to their new roles and responsibilities. 

As the Easton Select Group team built up their acquisition experience, DealRoom became the central location for their playbooks, seller profiles, and post-close data, helping the team refine their sourcing strategy and spot patterns across deals. The platform gave them the flexibility to manage transactions of all sizes while continuously improving their approach.

Why DealRoom?

Streamlined due diligence through repeatable processes and automation, allowing sellers to stay focused on running their businesses.

Integrated planning with parallel workstreams that enabled simultaneous tracking of diligence and integration from day one.

Simplified collaboration via a unified platform and intuitive interface that kept all stakeholders aligned on deliverables.

Centralized knowledge with a single source for playbooks and key resources, putting critical learnings at the team’s fingertips.

Continuous improvement as the platform helped Easton Select Group refine their sourcing strategy and optimize every stage of the M&A process.

“Identifying and tracking synergies starts with digging into operations and spending—DealRoom is what makes it manageable. It’s where we assign owners, build workflows, and monitor synergy realization alongside other key KPIs. Excel plays a role, but the real-time visibility is all in DealRoom.” 

- Thomas Dooling, M&A Analyst, Easton Select Group

Outcomes

DealRoom played a critical role in helping Easton Select Group launch and scale its ambitious new roll-up strategy. Along the way, the team saw key benefits, including:

Smarter, Data-Driven Decisions: Robust reporting in DealRoom made it easy to define KPIs, benchmark performance, and apply lessons learned to future sourcing and deal management.‍

Faster Execution Across Workstreams: Parallel tracking of diligence and integration in DealRoom saved time and simplified collaboration for all stakeholders.

Met Aggressive PE Growth Targets: With DealRoom’s support, Easton Select Group was able to close deals worth $10M of EBITDA in just five months. 

Greater Clarity and Control: DealRoom served as a centralized hub for all deal data—housing tasks, documents, playbooks, and seller profiles in one place for faster, more organized execution.

Positive Reputation: DealRoom helped Easton Select Group position itself as a “good acquirer,” building trust and credibility with sellers.

Scalable, Repeatable M&A Execution: Automated workflows in DealRoom’s platform allowed the team to standardize processes, speed up deal flow, and continuously optimize their roll-up strategy.

Stronger Cross-Functional Collaboration: Clear task delegation by department empowered subject matter experts to own and drive their parts of the process.

Flexible, Seller-Centric Deal Management: DealRoom gave Easton Select Group the ability to manage deals of all sizes and complexities—while adapting to seller needs through a buyer-led approach.

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