Originally published by L.A. Business First on 10/5/2022

Hartford, Connecticut, parking management company Propark Mobility has acquired Los Angeles-based Imperial Parking Industries, expanding its L.A. area portfolio by 75%.

With the acquisition, Propark is adding more than 50 employees and bringing its total assets under management to more than $2 billion.

Terms of the deal, which closed August 31, were not disclosed.

Propark CIO David Schmid told L.A. Business First the acquisition was a win-win for both companies.

“We believe that there’s a lot of groups like Imperial Parking that’ve built really nice companies over the years,” he said. “As time has evolved, technology has become more and more important. We’ve invested a lot into our systems and technology, and L.A. as a market really aligns with our culture.”

Focused mainly in Beverly Hills, Imperial Parking managed 34 properties throughout the Los Angeles area. The company managed parking for health care facilities, Class A office buildings, residential and commercial properties. As part of the acquisition, Propark will retain 100% of Imperial’s frontline staff, including Imperial President Kia Shakoori.

“We could not be prouder of Imperial Parking and all we’ve accomplished over the last 25 years,” Shakoori said in a statement. “Alongside Propark, we look forward to providing the same level of service our clients have come to expect from IPI, while also cultivating new partnerships and growth throughout the region.”

Like Imperial, Propark manages a general array of parking lots, with its most well-known clients being Google’s corporate headquarters in Mountain View, California, and the TD Garden parking structure in Boston.

Schmid said L.A.’s culture as a car-heavy city makes it an ideal market for Propark to expand in. As a spread-out city with a focus on sustainability and electric cars, L.A. is unique compared to other markets the company operates in where the cities are denser and have less surface area, such as San Francisco or Boston, Schmid said.

This deal is Propark’s fourth acquisitions in 12 months, following its acquisition of Sovereign Services in Houston, Pilgrim Parking in Boston and Monument Parking in Washington, D.C.

Schmid said Propark acquires only companies that are a mutually beneficial “cultural fit,” matching Propark’s sustainability and ethics standards while Propark aims to respect the reputation of the other company.

“We’re out there looking for companies as we speak, and not everyone’s going to be a match, for us or for them,” he said. “It has to be a win-win. We really want to grow and expand through these mergers and acquisitions.”