Tree Guardians Acquires Kansas City's Cartwright Tree Care

What happened

Tree Guardians acquired Cartwright Tree Care, a tree service company in the Kansas City metro, the platform announced on November 3, 2026. Cartwright is based in Grandview, Missouri, and works on both the Missouri and Kansas sides of the metro. Tree Guardians said the deal "expands Tree Guardians' presence in the Kansas City market while adding an established local team, decades of arboricultural expertise and deep community relationships to its growing network." The announcement did not include a price or other financial terms.

The seller

Cartwright has served Kansas City since 1999. It began as a family-run business, and Cheryl Cartwright is its president. Before the acquisition, the company was certified as a woman- and minority-owned business, with Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) and Women Business Enterprise (WBE) designations.

The company does residential, commercial, and municipal tree work: structural pruning, removals, 24/7 emergency storm cleanup, and tree health care. Its plant health care runs through a division called Tree Health Experts, which handles insect and disease control, deep root fertilization, and emerald ash borer treatment. Its crews include certified arborists. Customers range from homeowners and homeowners associations to businesses, schools, municipalities, and government agencies, in more than 30 cities across Missouri and Kansas, from Lee's Summit to Olathe.

"We've always believed that tree care is about more than the trees," Cheryl Cartwright said. "It's about protecting homes and businesses, preserving the urban canopy and being there for our neighbors when they need us most."

The buyer

Halle Capital, a New York lower-middle-market private equity firm with a buy-and-build approach, founded Tree Guardians in 2023. The platform partners with owners and operators of tree care businesses across the United States. Charlie Haines is its chief executive.

Cartwright follows Tree Guardians' May acquisition of Rite-A-Way Tree Service, a Missouri company founded in 1974 that serves the St. Charles and St. Louis communities. With Cartwright, Tree Guardians now owns businesses at both ends of the state. The most recent addition before this one was Iron Tree Service in Beverly, Massachusetts, which joined the platform in October.

"Tree care is at an interesting point in its evolution," Haines said. "The industry is moving toward greater professionalism, deeper expertise and a stronger understanding of the long-term value trees bring to our communities."

What this means for tree care owners

For tree care owners, a platform that already owns a company in their state is not always finished buying there. Tree Guardians already had a Missouri business when it bought Cartwright. The company it added serves cities and schools as well as homeowners. An owner with that mix of accounts can treat a platform already working in the state as a potential buyer, not only as a competitor. Our guide to selling a landscaping business to private equity covers how these platforms approach a sale.

OffDeal is an advisory firm that helps lower-middle-market business owners sell with confidence. Reach out to learn more about our expertise with tree care businesses in Missouri.

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Source: Tree Guardians - https://www.treeguardians.com/tree-guardians-acquires-cartwright-tree-care/