Boyne Capital announced it has closed a single asset secondary transaction that establishes a continuation vehicle for Pilot Energy, extending Boyne’s ownership and providing new capital to support Pilot’s acquisition strategy and organic growth initiatives.
The Florida-based lower-middle-market private equity firm said the continuation fund will be managed and controlled by Boyne and will be anchored by New 2ND Capital as the lead investor, with additional commitments from both new and existing Boyne limited partners.
Pilot, headquartered in San Diego, is a technology-enabled energy advisory and management platform that provides energy procurement advisory services and electric utility billing services to commercial and industrial customers and community choice aggregation. Boyne said that since its initial investment in 2020, Pilot has scaled by helping customers achieve energy cost and consumption savings, pairing that with geographic and end-market expertise, high-touch service, and reporting and analytics technology.
Boyne said the transaction equips Pilot with additional institutional capital to continue pursuing an aggressive M&A strategy while investing further in its platform, team, and customer-facing technology suite. The firm also highlighted Pilot’s ongoing focus on integration capabilities to support customers managing complex energy procurement strategies in a shifting market.
New 2ND Capital is a specialist in U.S. middle market GP led secondaries and said it had $2.4 billion of assets under management as of December 31, 2024.
Support: William Blair served as the exclusive financial advisor to Pilot and Boyne. McDermott Will and Schulte served as legal advisor to Boyne. Ropes and Gray served as legal advisor to New 2ND.
KEY QUOTES
“I am thrilled to continue leading and building this platform alongside Boyne, whose partnership has been instrumental in our success. Our continued access to institutional capital focused on making further investments in the business excites us as it empowers us to further grow the business and explore new opportunities.”
Zaheer Dhruv, CEO, Pilot Energy
“We are excited to continue investing in, partnering with, and supporting the growth of Pilot. The management team has not only excelled but has set a new standard for excellence, and we have strong confidence in their ability to further develop Pilot into a world class organization that can consistently deliver exceptional value to its customers. We have had the privilege of partnering with focused and driven executive leaders, identified through the dedicated and uncompromising efforts of our in house executive recruitment team. Our operations team has also played a crucial role in supporting management’s efforts to build out robust financial and analytical tools, enabling Pilot to scale quickly and efficiently.”
Derek McDowell, Managing Partner, Boyne Capital
“We are thrilled to support Pilot’s next phase of growth alongside Boyne. The Company’s impressive track record of innovation and strategic expansion has positioned it as a differentiated and scaled player in the energy advisory and management sector. We are also excited to find opportunities for further investment in Pilot, providing the capital necessary to fuel its ambitious growth plans. This partnership underscores our confidence in Pilot’s ability to continue delivering exceptional value to its customers and stakeholders, and we look forward to being part of its continued success story.”
Clay Cole, Partner, New 2ND Capital
