Capital Buzz: Halifax Group snaps up another contractor Four more Dogtopia doggie daycares are opening in the area. Text Size PrintE-mailReprints By Thomas Heath, Published: April 15 The Halifax Group, the mid-market private equity firm led by Washington Nationals’ part-owner David Dupree, is on the hunt for more acquisitions in the federal purchasing landscape, following the recent completion of a deal to combine two Washington area consulting companies.

1. CAPITAL BUZZ:
HALIFAX GROUP
SNAPS UP ANOTHER
CONTRACTOR

2. The Halifax Group, the mid-market private equity
firm led by Washington Nationals’ part-
owner David Dupree, is on the hunt for more
acquisitions in the federal purchasing
landscape, following the recent completion of a
deal to combine two Washington area consulting
companies.
Halifax-backed XL, based in McLean, is pairing
with its Springfield neighbor, Alon, only six months
after Halifax invested in XL.
Halifax principal Scott Plumridge led the XL-Alon
deal. XL founder Lloyd Mustinwill continue to serve
as chief executive.

3. XL helps the federal government be smarter about
purchasing billions of dollars in goods and services for its
various agencies. Halifax thinks there’s room to tuck in
another company or two.
Dupree is chairman of the investment policy committee for
the Wake Forest University Board of Trustees. Halifax
Group is backed by billionaire investor David
Bonderman, founder of Fort Worth-based TPG
Capital, and has offices in Dallas and Raleigh, N.C., in
addition to its District headquarters.
Halifax recently sold its majority interest in Pennsylvania-
based auto parts supplier Service Champ — which
serves quick-service lube stations across North America
— to Snow Phipps Group, which is a private equity firm
based in New York City. Halifax held its interests for two
years, during which time Service Champ made a big
acquisition. Terms were not disclosed.

4. CARLYLE WATCH:
Several teams from Carlyle Group, the local private
equity giant, are heading around the globe starting this
week to pitch shares in the company to large investors as
part of the road show that accompanies initial public
offerings. Carlyle has said it will sell shares equal to
about 10 percent of the company sometime soon.
Last week sources, who spoke on the condition of
anonymity because they are not authorized to speak
publicly, said the company believes it should be valued
somewhere between $7 billion and $8 billion. That means
between $700 million and $800 million worth of shares
will go on the market in the initial public offering. No one
at Carlyle is selling any stock in the offering; the money
raised will be used to pay down debt and grow the
business.

5. BIG DOG
Amy Nichols, founder of Dogtopia (you can see their
giant sign from the Dulles Toll Road), tells us the doggie
daycare franchise is opening four new locations in this
region and relocating its flagship Tysons store to a
nearby location on Springhill Road. “We are going from
8,775 to 10,000 square feet, and Springhill Road is
easier and faster to get to,” said Nichols, adding that the
building is owned by Georgelas Group.
The Tysons Corner store grosses more than $1 million a
year, Nichols said.
Georgelas is a McLean-based development company
building out much of Tysons West. Nichols said she
hopes to move Dogtopia into one of their new buildings
on or around Springhill Road in the next five years.

6. Nichols owns three of the company’s 23 locations
— Tysons, Herndon and White Flint — and the
rest are owned by franchisees. The company’s
first multi-unit franchisee is about to start
construction on a new location in Springfield that
opens in June. The same owner has been running
a Dogtopia in Woodbridge for three years.
Dogtopia also is opening two Richmond locations
and one in Wilmington, Del., this summer.
“All of this development and growth has been a
long time coming,” Nichols said.

7. THE BUZZ HEARS:
Del Frisco’s Grille opened in the former Les Halles
space at 12th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in early
July. We hear this is the Dallas-based restaurant
group’s casual grill concept, with more music, less-
expensive food. Just what I need.
Condé Nast acquired Sterling-based ZipList, which
creates technology for mobile online and mobile
shopping lists and recipe searches.
Arlington-based Decision Lens, a consulting firm that
helps companies and institutions make better — you
guessed it — decisions, snagged a $120,000, one-
year deal to help Arlington County schools figure out
how to educate the additional 5,000 students that are
expected to enter the system over the next few years.

8. FACTOID OF THE WEEK:
Ben’s Chili Bowl sold 2,204 of its famous half-
smokes, at $7.50 each, at its Nationals Park food
stand behind the third base line on Opening Day
last Thursday. The stand averaged 925 sales a
game last year. The Nationals beat the Cincinnati
Reds, 3-2, in 10 innings.