Lakeside Partners advises Timberline Clearing on its acquisition by XKIG, a Sterling Investment Partners portfolio company
Lakeside Partners (“Lakeside”), a leading boutique investment bank specializing in M&A advisory services, acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Timberline Clearing (“TC”) on its acquisition by XKIG, a Sterling Investment Partners (“Sterling”) portfolio company.
Timberline Clearing, LLC is a specialized right-of-way and vegetation management provider serving the pipeline, railroad, electrical transmission, and civil-construction sectors across North America. Founded in 2007, the company has earned a strong reputation for safety, reliability, and operational excellence, leveraging deep expertise in forestry, heavy equipment, and utility infrastructure to support critical projects.
With Timberline’s long-standing relationships with major industry players, XKIG’s investment will enable TC to pursue larger-scale projects, expand reach into new geographies, and implement operational efficiencies that historically could not be pursued.
The transaction, led by Chase Wichelmann, Partner at Lakeside Partners, further strengthens the firm’s expertise in the infrastructure services sector. “Shawn built an exceptional business grounded in long-standing, highly trusted relationships with major railroads and utility providers,” said Chase, “The technical sophistication of his team and the depth of those customer partnerships, now combined with XKIG’s scale and reach, creates a powerful platform for future growth.”
Shawn VanDriessche, President and Owner of TC said, “As we look toward our next chapter, we wanted a partner who understands both the complexity of right-of-way clearing and the growth opportunities ahead. XKIG brings the resources, industry expertise, and shared vision needed to scale our platform while preserving the culture and operational excellence that define our team. We are very grateful to Lakeside Partners for their guidance and support throughout this process, their M&A expertise and industry knowledge played a key role in helping us engage with XKIG and execute on a smooth and successful transaction.”
This transaction expands Lakeside’s expertise in the infrastructure services sector and reflects another strong result for a founder-led business. Lakeside directed all critical aspects of the process, maintaining strategic alignment across stakeholders and driving an efficient, disciplined approach that delivered a successful closing.
Dalton Crum and his team at Messerli Kramer served as exclusive legal counsel to TC.
About XKIG (www.xkig.com)
XKIG is a national leader in critical infrastructure services for the power and gas utility sectors, providing rights-of-way development and vegetation management, transmission and distribution system construction and maintenance, and disaster-restoration services to utilities across the United States. With operations spanning 39 states, a workforce of over 7,000 employees, and service to more than 300 utility customers, XKIG supports safe, reliable energy delivery at scale through its portfolio of specialized subsidiaries—including vegetation-management, line-construction, and storm-restoration providers.
About Sterling Investment Partners (www.sterlinglp.com)
Sterling Investment Partners is a middle-market private equity firm specializing in value-added distribution and business services. Through active partnership with management teams, the firm helps companies scale, enhance operations, and create sustainable long-term value.
About Lakeside Partners (www.lakesidepartners.com)
Lakeside Partners, which has offices in Minneapolis, MN, Seattle, WA, and Sioux Falls, SD, provides M&A advisory services to privately-held businesses. The firm has extensive expertise serving businesses across multiple industry verticals including business services, consumer & retail, food & beverage, industrials, specialty distribution, and technology, among many others.
For more information about our firm or this transaction, please contact:
Chase Wichelmann
Partner
cwichelmann@lakesidepartners.com
651.356.1753
Grant Connelly
Senior Analyst
gconnelly@lakesidepartners.com
214.300.5607
Nick Morgan
Analyst
nmorgan@lakesidepartners.com
425.281.5735