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PE Playbook: Frontline Road Safety
State of Play
I never thought I'd get excited about road paint. But when Bain Capital dropped serious money on a company that literally paints lines on highways, I had to dig deeper. Turns out, this might be one of the smartest "boring" deals I've seen. According to TRIP, a Washington, D.C.-based research nonprofit, nearly 40% of major U.S. roads are in poor condition. And with the 2021 Infrastructure Act promising to pump $1.2 trillion into U.S. infrastructure, America's roads are finally getting fixed.
Enter Frontline Road Safety, one of the largest pavement marking services provider in the U.S. They paint the lines on highways, runways, and parking lots. In January 2025, Bain Capital acquired Frontline from The Sterling Group, who had built Frontline from scratch starting in 2020.
Now Bain's taking the baton for the next leg. Let’s dig into this road painting rollup play.
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Company Overview
Business Model
Here is a simple overview of how the road painting business works:
Stage | What Happens | Key Details |
|---|---|---|
Funding | Federal + state budgets (IIJA, DOTs), airports, municipalities, private property owners | Non-discretionary spend — safety lines must be repainted regularly |
Contracting | Public: competitive bids (per linear foot, symbol, mile) Private: lump-sum or per-job quotes | DOTs require prequalification; contracts range from small jobs to multi-state maintenance |
Revenue Mix | Majority public (DOTs, airports, municipalities) Remaining private (contractors, parking lots, campuses) | Public = slower pay, high volume Private = faster pay, smaller jobs |
Seasonality | Peak work during warm Q2–Q3; slower Q4–Q1 in cold states / holidays | National players balance north/south crews to smooth seasonality |