Cress

Based in Madison, Wisconsin, Cress Funeral and Cremation Service has been providing compassionate funeral care services to families of central and southern Wisconsin since 1977. After the Cress family purchased its first Madison location over 40 years ago, CFS continued expanding via multiple acquisitions and became one of the largest and most successful multi-location operators within the upper Midwest.

When the Cress family began to contemplate its ownership liquidity and transition goals, the Company’s law firm recommended an introduction to Promontory. Promontory’s engagement began with gaining a thorough understanding of the shareholders’ objectives, before designing a plan of action to achieve these stated goals. Given the Company’s strategic advantages in its various markets, Promontory confidentially held discussions with a targeted list of respected industry players that valued CFS’s brand and reputation. After soliciting interest and interviewing a subset of the interested parties, Promontory helped negotiate multiple competing offers before agreeing to a Letter of Intent with Park Lawn Corporation, a publicly-traded funeral home and cemetery operator with locations across North America. In addition to marketing CFS to a targeted group of strategic parties, Promontory’s engagement involved leading the negotiation of deal terms, managing all due diligence activities via Promontory’s data room, assisting in legal documentation review and schedule preparation, and finalizing the closing process.

Beyond economic considerations, the CFS ownership group valued completing a transaction with a like-minded industry leader that would continue the Cress Family’s commitment to serving the families of central Wisconsin. In addition, Park Lawn’s continued expansion plans will provide future growth opportunities for CFS’s leadership team and their valued employees.