Preview | United Site Services: A Royal Equity Flush

the long story that unfolded with United Site Services (USS). To begin with, the business is quite unglamorous; USS is the largest provider and servicer of portable bathrooms and other sanitation services in the United States. The company was founded in 2000 and grew at an exponential pace through a roll-up strategy until Platinum Equity saw the opportunity and acquired it for $1.2bn in 2017.

The investment was successful, as the company continued performing add-on acquisitions and tripled its EBITDA in just four years. Platinum explored a sale in 2021, but it decided to place USS in a continuation vehicle, believing there would be substantial post-COVID growth that USS could capture. This is where the story begins, as the continuation vehicle transaction valued the company at $3.75bn and levered it up to 7.5x EBITDA, up from 4x before the transaction. At the time, the sponsor thought the company would handle the debt load due to the low interest rate environment and a proven performance track record.

Things couldn’t be more wrong, though, as a perfect storm of rising interest rates, inflation, and end-market contraction ran through the company and destroyed its profitability. We will analyze a very well-rounded liability management exercise the company conducted in 2024 to raise liquidity, capture a discount on its debt, and extend its maturities. While the LME gave the company another chance to survive, market pressure persisted, and the company was forced to file for Chapter 11 in 2025.

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