Dallas, TX – March 3, 2022 – Riata Capital Group (“Riata” or “RCG”), a Dallas-based private equity investment firm, announced today that Blake Battaglia, a successful veteran private equity investor, is joining Riata as a Managing Partner. Mr. Battaglia brings over 25 years of private equity experience, including 19 years at ABRY Partners (“ABRY”), where he was instrumental in leading many of ABRY’s successful investments. Mr. Battaglia joins Jeff Fronterhouse and Barron Fletcher, Managing Partners of RCG, to further solidify the firm’s leadership team and lead RCG’s investment activities in the business services sector with a focus on digital infrastructure, information services, and tech-enabled outsourced business services. 

Prior to RCG, Mr. Battaglia served as a Partner at ABRY. During his 19-year tenure at ABRY, he focused on the digital infrastructure, information services, and technology-enabled outsourced business services sectors spanning cloud and managed IT services, regional and metro fiber, IoT communications and applications, cable television, broadcasting, media, and payment processing services. Mr. Battaglia played a key role in the development and execution of ABRY’s broadband investment thesis that originated during the firm’s early exposure to the utility-like nature of residential high-speed internet services, and that resulted in ABRY investing significant capital in companies utilizing digital infrastructure to provide broadband connectivity, bandwidth delivery and cloud services to consumers, businesses, enterprises, carriers, and devices. He served on the boards of Masergy, RCN Telecom Services, Lightower Fiber Networks, KORE Wireless (NYSE: KORE), Grande Communications, Atlantic Broadband, WOW! (NSYE: WOW), Cast & Crew Entertainment Services, Talent Partners, Hometown Cable, and Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ: NXST). Since 2019, Mr. Battaglia has served as a Venture Partner for Delta-v Capital, a leading growth equity firm investing across technology sectors, including cybersecurity, digital infrastructure, DevOps, cloud services, SaaS, information services, and wellness and lifestyle technology.

Mr. Fronterhouse, Managing Partner of Riata, commented, “Blake is an exceptional investor with a strong track record investing in high-growth and attractive segments of the broader digital infrastructure, information services, and tech-enabled outsourced business services sectors. RCG is deploying a sector-focused strategy, and Blake’s extensive experience and strong track record in business services is very additive and strategic to our firm’s existing skill sets and experience. As we continue to build our firm and increasingly ramp-up our investment activities and assets under management, having a very experienced and successful investor like Blake is an important strategic step for RCG.”

Mr. Fletcher, Managing Partner of Riata, added, “We are very excited about the addition of Blake to our team at RCG. He brings many years of experience and perspective from a market-leading private equity firm, and we believe his presence will accelerate our growth and expand the addressable footprint of our business services investment activities.”

“I could not be more excited to join Jeff and Barron as a Riata Managing Partner,” Mr. Battaglia added. “They have done an exceptional job building the firm to date, including putting in place a strong team, both investment-focused and operational. Since late 2016, the firm has deployed over $475 million of capital and generated strong performance. My leadership in business services, with a focus on digital infrastructure, information services, and tech-enabled outsourced business services companies—characterized by recurring, contractual, and distributed revenue—completes the firm’s leadership across its three sectors. I believe the firm is on a great trajectory, is building some substantial businesses, and is well-positioned to be a market-leader in the lower-end of the middle market.”

About Riata Capital Group 

Riata Capital Group is a Dallas-based private equity investment firm that partners with seasoned management teams to invest in growing, profitable, privately held companies with a focus on three industry sectors: business services, consumer, and healthcare services. The firm takes a selective approach to investing in high-potential businesses whose owners and management teams want an investment partner with the capital, experience, and record of successful collaboration required to achieve their liquidity and value-creation objectives. Since 2016, RCG has closed over 100 acquisitions and invested over $475 million of equity capital. Over the course of their careers, the principals of RCG have sponsored over 200 acquisitions representing over $6.5 billion in transaction value. The firm targets equity investments of $25-$150 million in companies with $5-$30 million of EBITDA. With significant investment experience, a balanced team with financial and operating expertise, a strong team of seasoned operating partners, and significant experience in the firm's targeted sectors, Riata provides a compelling value proposition to business owners and entrepreneurs.

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