Payan Pools Under New Ownership

When Javier Payan started cleaning pools as a teenager, his ambitions were modest: learn to surf, service a pool route and avoid hiring employees.

“That was my 20-year-old brain’s business plan,” Payan says. “None of that worked out.”

He never learned to surf. Instead, he purchased a $23,000 pool route in 1987, built Payan Pool Service into one of San Diego County’s most respected pool companies and hired hundreds of employees over nearly four decades.

Selling the company was never part of the plan either.

Payan began getting calls from prospective buyers as private equity interest in the pool industry accelerated around 2018-19. He heard several offers but had no pressing reason to accept one. But without those calls, he says, he likely would have continued operating the company as he always had.

They made him consider what an eventual exit might look like. Payan and his wife, Valerie, have five daughters, including one who works for the company, but he was reluctant to pass along the stress of business ownership.

“It’s the sleepless nights and all that goes with it,” Payan says. “I don’t wish that upon anybody.”

Then Payan met California Pool Partners founders Mark Doody, Evan Ferl and and Eric Johnston, who came from technology and other white-collar business roles. After becoming dissatisfied with the tech sector, the three left their jobs and began evaluating businesses in several industries. They eventually purchased a pool route in Los Angeles, investing their money and working in the field before developing plans to expand through partnerships with other pool companies. To date, they’ve completed about 15 acquisitions. With an operation built in Los Angeles, they wanted to expand into San Diego.

Payan was not looking to sell, but the founders’ plan matched what he wanted for the company, its employees and customers.

“If I was to write down what it would take for me to sell this business, it was all right there,” Payan says. “They checked all my boxes.”

The deal closed in December after a 90-day forensic accounting review. Payan says the process validated the systems he had spent years building, including compliant payroll and human resources practices, clean accounting and a stable workforce.

The assurances given by California Pool Partners may sound familiar to much of the pool industry. Roll-up companies frequently say they will preserve local brands, retain employees and protect company culture. As they grow, however, financial targets and centralized systems can displace the qualities that made those businesses valuable.

Ferl says the structure behind California Pool Partners gives it a better chance of keeping its promises. The company is owned and operated by its three founders, without an outside board or investors directing its decisions.

“We don’t have anybody behind us pushing us to optimize something at the sake of service quality or employee satisfaction,” Ferl says.

California Pool Partners centralizes financial, administrative and selected operational functions but leaves substantial authority with each company’s general manager.

“I work for the GM, not the other way around,” Ferl says. “I want you to tell me how the business will best be impacted by my actions.”

Payan says employees were understandably apprehensive when the sale was announced at an all-staff meeting. Ferl and his partners attended, answered questions and assured the team that the acquisition was not intended to dismantle an already successful operation.

“Of course, when a new company takes over, everybody freaks out,” Payan says. “[California Pool Partners] made it very clear: ‘Why would we let you go? You guys are a great company. We don’t want to mess with anything.’”

The new owners were equally affected by the meeting. Payan says they later told him they had never encountered a company culture like Payan Pool Service’s and wanted to adopt some of its practices in their Los Angeles operation.

Several months into the transition, Payan says the promises made before the sale have held. The company has grown approximately 30% since December, expanded beyond a long-standing geographic boundary into North County and added a marketing division.

Payan had intentionally limited growth to about 3% to 5% annually. During the busy season, the company regularly stopped accepting work to protect service quality and prevent employees from becoming overloaded. California Pool Partners brought recruiting support, marketing capabilities and capital for the people and equipment needed to grow without placing those responsibilities solely on Payan.

“I realized that in running this business, I would by design stifle growth because I know that you grow too fast and things get out of control,” Payan says. “With them, it’s like, ‘Let’s grow fast, and let’s be in control.’ ”

Payan completed his agreed-upon six-month retention in August, but even before that, the day-to-day increasingly went on without him. He and Valerie spent two weeks in Italy, including over Memorial Day weekend, something previously unthinkable during the industry’s busiest season. The company continued without panic calls.

Payan is now pursuing consulting work and other pool industry ventures. Retirement does not appear to suit him, but he finally has control over how much he works and what he takes on.

He may even return to an old unfinished goal.

“Now we have time,” he says. “Maybe learning how to surf.”