Expands Service Offerings for Customers Across Higher Education and Municipal Markets Nationwide

Baton Rouge, LA., September 12, 2024 – Grace Hebert Curtis Architects (“GHC”), a leading architecture, engineering, and consulting (“AEC”) firm delivering innovative and functional projects for diverse market sectors, today announced its investment in Hastings+Chivetta Architects (“H+C”), a national design and architectural firm focused primarily on the education market. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 1960, H+C has a successful track record of designing one-of-a-kind spaces and serving clients across the U.S. in the higher education, K-12, municipal, corporate, and government markets. The firm specializes in delivering innovative, modern designs for education-focused clients for the full spectrum of project types, including academic, allied health, athletics, aquatics, dining, engineering, offices, recreation and wellness, renovations, science, student housing, and student life facilities. Headquartered in St. Louis, H+C has a reputation for providing exceptional master planning, space utilization, architecture, and sustainable design services that accommodate modern teaching styles while helping to shape and improve campus life.

GHC is a portfolio company of Bernhard Capital Partners (“Bernhard Capital”), a services and infrastructure-focused private equity management firm. In September 2022, Bernhard Capital launched a dedicated AEC platform in connection with its investment in GHC. Since then, GHC has acquired a number of widely respected and innovative AEC firms, including BSSW Architects, BTA Associates, and Hahnfeld Hoffer Stanford Architects. As part of GHC’s AEC platform, H+C will be well positioned to continue serving campuses across the country, while benefitting from GHC’s extensive suite of service offerings and resources to support existing and new clients.

“H+C has an exceptional reputation as the premier campus architect, and we’re pleased to bring on a team that shares in our long-standing commitment to innovation and best-in-class client service,” said Jerry Hebert, CEO of GHC. “With this partnership, we will continue to expand our offerings in the higher education, K-12, and community recreation markets, well as expand our footprint in the Midwest region. As we thoughtfully build our AEC platform, we are confident the addition of the H+C team will further solidify our ability to capitalize on the growing demand in the education sector.”

“This partnership with GHC and Bernhard Capital is a testament to the strength of the platform we’ve built at H+C over the last 60 years, and this marks the start of an exciting new chapter for our business,” said Christopher Chivetta, CEO of H+C. “GHC is a well-respected industry leader that shares our dedication to innovation and sustainability, and this partnership will allow us to meaningfully expand our offerings and footprint to better serve our valued clients across the education market. We look forward to working alongside Jerry and the incredible GHC team.”

“H+C’s impressive track record and deep relationships across the higher education ecosystem will further establish GHC as a full-service, national AEC platform,” said Jeff Koonce, Partner at Bernhard Capital. “This acquisition marks the fourth strategic partnership for GHC, and we look forward to continuing to explore attractive service expansion opportunities that will allow GHC to deliver bespoke solutions to our clients nationwide.”

About Grace Hebert Curtis Architects

GHC is a widely recognized AEC firm with locations in Texas, Louisiana and Florida. With an unmatched legacy and commitment to clients, GHC provides in-depth insight and a broad range of innovative design and development solutions for a wide range of end markets, including education, civic, healthcare, commercial office, and industrial. Learn more at https://ghc-arch.com.

About Hastings+Chivetta Architects

Hastings+Chivetta is a leading architectural firm that designs one-of-a-kind places that are alive, connected, and continuously evolving with time. H+C’s areas of focus include higher education, K-12, municipal, corporate and government markets for clients throughout the United States. Project types  include academic, allied health, athletics,  STEM,  recreation and wellness, student life, municipal and corporate facilities. Learn more at https://www.hastingschivetta.com.

 About Bernhard Capital Partners

Bernhard Capital Partners is a services and infrastructure-focused private equity management firm established in 2013. Bernhard Capital Partners has deployed capital in four funds across several strategies and has more than $4 billion of assets under management. Bernhard Capital Partners seeks to create sustainable value by leveraging its experience in acquiring, operating, and growing services and infrastructure businesses. For more information, visit www.BernhardCapital.com.

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Ed Trissel / Erik Carlson / Madeline Jones

Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher

(212) 355-4449