Hastings Equity Builds Leading Traffic Control Platform with Investment in Superior Road Striping

Hastings Equity Partners ("Hastings"), a preferred capital partner to founders of lower middle market businesses, is pleased to announce their Fund IV portfolio company, High Star Traffic ("High Star"), has acquired Superior Road Striping ("Superior").

BOSTON, Jan. 4, 2024 Hastings Equity Partners ("Hastings"), a preferred capital partner to founders of lower middle market businesses, is pleased to announce their Fund IV portfolio company, High Star Traffic ("High Star"), has acquired Superior Road Striping ("Superior"). This is the first add-on investment High Star has completed since Hastings formed the Midwest traffic control platform in July 2022. High Star was created through the combination of three premier founder-led traffic services businesses: Traffic Control & Protection, TSI Traffic Control, and Traffic Control Specialists.

Superior is a leading provider of permanent line striping and reflective marker installation, replacement, and maintenance in the Chicagoland area. The investment in Superior expands High Star's permanent pavement marking capabilities, enabling High Star to provide a full suite of traffic control solutions to customers across Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana.

Superior represents a strategic investment in diversifying our service offering and increasing our scale, strengthening our leadership in existing markets, and positioning us for continued growth.

"High Star provides Hastings' investors with exposure to the large, stable, and growing market for perpetual road maintenance," said Rob Scaramella, Managing Director at Hastings. "Superior represents a strategic investment in diversifying our service offering and increasing our scale, strengthening our leadership in existing markets, and positioning us for continued growth. We are excited to partner with the Superior team and look forward to growing this important service for all our customers."

"The Superior team could not be more excited to join with High Star and Hastings in this exciting partnership," said Joe Yario, Superior's founder. "Our partnership with High Star allows Superior more robust resources to capture a greater share of the market, while also providing long-term growth and stability for our employees. There is a significant opportunity for our services, and this partnership best positions us to achieve that potential."

Locke Lord provided legal counsel, KSM provided financial advisory services, and Forvis provided tax services to Hastings on the transaction.

About High Start Traffic

High Star Traffic was formed by rebranding three of the premier, founder-led traffic companies in the industry: Traffic Control & Protection (TCP), Traffic Services, Inc (TSI), and Traffic Control Specialists (TCS). High Star Traffic provides a full range of traffic control solutions to support road maintenance work for public and private customers. Headquartered in Bartlett, IL and with facilities across Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin, High Star Traffic offers equipment rental, temporary and permanent line striping, and flagging to general contractors, state departments of transportation, municipalities, tollways, and utilities. For more information, visit www.highstartraffic.com

About Hastings Equity Partners

Founded in 2004, Hastings Equity Partners is a lower middle-market private equity firm. Hastings invests first institutional capital in North American founder-led companies within the industrial and business services sectors, where it has deep operating and investing experience. As a preferred capital partner, Hastings seeks to empower businesses to reach their full potential. For almost two decades, the firm has formed long-term partnerships with entrepreneurs while utilizing a hands-on approach to help optimize operations, accelerate revenue growth, and significantly increase equity value. For more information, visit www.hastingsequity.com