Ridgeline Roofing Buys Freedom Roofing & Construction, Its Seventh Deal

What happened

Ridgeline Roofing & Restoration has acquired Freedom Roofing & Construction, a roofing and exterior contractor based in Champaign, Illinois. Bertram Capital, the private equity firm that backs Ridgeline, announced the deal on June 18, 2026, and described it as Ridgeline's seventh acquisition. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The seller

Kurt Kiser founded Freedom Roofing & Construction and serves as its president, and the company has worked in the Champaign area for more than a decade. It installs and repairs roofs and handles siding, gutters, and storm damage restoration for homeowners and businesses across Central Illinois, from Champaign, Urbana, and Savoy out to Mahomet, St. Joseph, and Clinton.

Kiser described the deal in terms of reach. "Joining the Ridgeline platform opens doors for our team that would have taken years to reach on our own," he said. "Better resources, broader reach, and the infrastructure to keep growing without sacrificing the quality service our customers have come to expect from us." The announcement did not say what role Kiser will hold or whether the Freedom name continues.

The buyer

Chris Baldus and Scott Bullard founded Ridgeline in Birmingham, Alabama, in 2020 and lead it as CEO and president. When Bertram Capital invested in January 2024, Ridgeline was a residential re-roofing company working in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and Florida; it now describes itself as a provider of residential and commercial roofing. Bertram is a Foster City, California, private equity firm founded in 2006 that has raised more than $4.0 billion in capital commitments.

"Kurt Kiser has done a phenomenal job building a trusted brand in Central Illinois, and we see tremendous opportunity to grow that presence," Baldus said. "This acquisition strengthens Ridgeline's Midwest footprint and adds a team that shares our commitment to taking care of customers and employees."

How Ridgeline built its Midwest footprint

Freedom was the fourth Midwest company among Ridgeline's seven acquisitions since the Bertram investment; the other three were in Mississippi and North Carolina. The first Midwest deal was Brody Allen Exteriors of Lake Saint Louis, Missouri, in March 2025, when Baldus said Ridgeline would partner with its team "to expand Brody Allen's capabilities in Missouri and Illinois." A contractor serving the Twin Cities and western Wisconsin followed in January 2026, then Fremont Roofing Company of Fremont, Nebraska, on June 10, 2026, eight days before Freedom. The run has continued since: on September 23, 2026, Ridgeline announced its eighth acquisition, in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Owners weighing a sponsor-backed buyer can read our guide on whether to sell a roofing business to private equity.

What this means for roofing owners

Fremont Roofing and Freedom, announced eight days apart, are similar businesses. JB Harris founded Fremont Roofing in 2011, and it sells roofing, siding, and gutters from a single home base, as Freedom has from Champaign for more than a decade under Kiser. The Kalamazoo contractor, founded by Tim Brown in 1998, offers the same core services, and Baldus called it "a founder-led operator with a loyal customer base and a team that's stuck around for years." That gives Ridgeline's Midwest buying a recognizable profile: a founder-built exterior contractor with an established local name, in markets that include Champaign, Fremont, and Kalamazoo as well as St. Louis and the Twin Cities. For an owner whose business rests on a local name, that name is part of what a buyer like this is acquiring, and what happens to it is a term to settle in the letter of intent rather than after closing.

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

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Source: Ridgeline Roofing & Restoration - https://ridgeline-roofing.com/news/ridgeline-roofing-welcomes-freedom-roofing