Lawn Pride acquired by home-service franchisor

Indianapolis-based Lawn Pride Inc., one of central Indiana’s largest lawn-care companies, has been acquired by Waco, Texas-based Neighborly Inc., one the world’s largest franchisors of home-service brands.

Financial terms of the deal, announced Tuesday, were not disclosed.

Lawn Pride, 7740 Johnson Road, was founded by CEO Andrew Neher in 1983 while he was a student at Ball State University. The company offers fertilization, weed control, aeration, overseeding, pest control, and tree and shrub services.

“While still in college, I started my entrepreneurial journey in lawn care,” Neher said in written remarks. “With a lot of hard work and a highly dedicated and talented team, we built Lawn Pride into the thriving business it is today. Now, it’s time for the Lawn Pride team and the Neighborly team to collaboratively write the Company’s exciting next chapters. Guided by Neighborly’s entrepreneurial spirit, leadership team, deep bench and experience in home services, and a great capacity to grow the business, this is clearly the right next step in our evolution.”

Neighborly said it plans to begin franchising the Lawn Pride brand in the United States in 2023. The acquisition gives Neighborly 30 home service brands, including Molly Maid, Mr. Rooter, Precision Door Service, Window Genie, Mosquito Joe, Glass Doctor, Aire Serv and the Grounds Guys.

Neighborly brands operate more than 5,000 franchises in six countries.

“At Neighborly, we believe in the greater power of our collective, and welcoming Lawn Pride to our family of brands allows us to expand our offerings and deepen connections with homeowners,” Mike Bidwell, president and CEO of Neighborly, said in written comments. “Lawn Pride’s fertilization, weed control, aeration and overseeding services have earned a remarkably high net promoter score and customer-retention rate. We see tremendous opportunity to grow the brand to new heights beyond its home market.”

Neighborly said Joshua Sevick, president of The Grounds Guys, would oversee the integration of Lawn Pride, with both brands using two distinct service models and systems.