LongWater acquires majority stake in Blastco

LongWater Private Equity said it has acquired a majority stake in Blastco, a Channelview, Texas-based provider of surface preparation, industrial coatings and tank rehabilitation services. The investment was made alongside Blastco's existing leadership team, including Jay Soper, who will remain in charge of the company. Terry Warren, owner of TF Warren Group and founder of Blastco, will keep a minority stake and join the board of directors going forward. Blastco was founded in 1983 and provides field coatings solutions for municipal, federal, midstream and industrial customers.

LongWater said the investment followed months of work in the industrial coatings space. Over the past year, the firm studied the sector, mapped end markets across energy, industrial and federal infrastructure, and met with operators across the industry. That work identified a fragmented market of founder- and family-owned contractors supported by recurring maintenance, repair and overhaul demand. October 07, 2026 Blastco will serve as the anchor of a national platform, with LongWater and company management planning to pursue add-on acquisitions that would expand Blastco's geographic footprint, service offering and customer relationships.

Neil West, senior managing director at LongWater, said industrial coatings is the kind of critical infrastructure services industry the firm looks for. He said LongWater spent significant time developing a view on value in the sector before engaging, and that Blastco stood out for its people, safety culture and reputation with customers. West said the firm sees an opportunity to build a differentiated national platform and is proud to partner with Jay and the team.

Blastco management thanked customers, suppliers and business associates for their relationships and support over the years, and said it looks forward to continuing those relationships and partnering with LongWater to build on past successes and create new opportunities. future," said Terry Warren, founder of Blastco and TF Warren Group. "Our team has built Blastco on doing the job right and doing it safely, and that won't change," Jay Soper, vice president of Blastco, said. "LongWater took the time to understand our business and our customers, and they bring the capital, operating resources and acquisition experience to help us grow faster than we could on our own.

" "Blastco gives us a strong foundation to execute on our industrial coatings thesis," said Bobby Astrup, vice president at LongWater. " Ice Miller served as legal counsel to LongWater. Katz Sapper & Miller served as financial and tax diligence advisor. Founded in 2009, LongWater is a private markets investor with offices in Fargo, ND, Dallas, TX, St.

Louis, MO and Boston, MA. LongWater says it is a premier access point to the lower middle market through its Private Equity and Capital Solutions strategies, and says LongWater Private Equity makes thesis-driven, majority investments in lower middle market industrial businesses, partnering with founders and management teams to drive value. com (END) Dow Jones Newswires October 07, 2026 15:38 ET (19:38 GMT) The statements in this document shall not be considered an objective or independent explanation of the matters.

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