Caltius Equity Partners, a lower middle-market private equity firm, has made a significant investment in Aphix, a provider of commercial landscape services.

Founded in 2004, Aphix offers landscaping maintenance, enhancements and winter services to customers in Louisville and Lexington, Ky. and Chattanooga, Tenn. The company boasts a customer-centric operating model and strong employee culture to drive its service levels for commercial and industrial customers. This transaction marks Aphix’s first partnership with an institutional investor.

“Aphix is a terrific fit for our investment thesis of targeting investments in recurring revenue services businesses to build a leading company in the fragmented landscaping services industry,” says Justin Benshoof, managing director of CEP. “We will be actively evaluating add-on acquisitions of companies with strong maintenance revenues and $0 to $12 million of Ebitda.”