Holland & Knight Advises River Associates on Slingmax Sale to Sterling Group

Chattanooga, Tenn. (October 7, 2026) – Holland & Knight represented River Associates, a long-standing lower middle-market private equity firm based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on its the sale of Slingmax Group to The Sterling Group. The transaction closed on September 30.

The transaction marks River Associates' fourth portfolio company exit of the year, with Holland & Knight serving as counsel on all four exits. The sale follows a period of significant growth and strategic investment at Slingmax and continues a successful year of realizations for River, with aggregate EBITDA across the firm's four exited investments growing 4.6 times during River's ownership.

River Associates has focused exclusively on investing in the lower middle market for more than 35 years. Target businesses can be privately held, private equity-backed or divestitures from larger companies in the U.S. and Canada with initial EBITDA in the $3 million to $12 million range.

Holland & Knight's representation of River Associates was led by Partners Roddy Bailey Jr. and Ignacio De la Huerta, along with Associates Grayson Lowery, Courtney Zotaj and Alexis Kulik (M&A). Holland & Knight has also represented River Associates' current investment fund in two platform purchase transactions during 2026, as well as a number of add-on acquisitions for current portfolio companies.

More information on the transaction can be found here.

Recently recognized as the Private Equity Law Firm of the Year by the Global M&A Network and M&A Law Firm of the Year by M&A Advisor, Holland & Knight regularly ranks among the leading M&A and private equity law firms in reputable, benchmarking league tables published by Bloomberg, LSEG, Mergermarket, PitchBook and The Deal. Through the HK Deal Flow℠ program, Holland & Knight facilitates deal leads for clients and prospective clients by matching acquisition or capital raising opportunities with buyers and investors.