By Pete M. Anderson, Kevin Ellis and David Mildenberg
Passing Rick Hendrick on the annual BNC 125 is proving as challenging as keeping up with Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon or other famous Hendrick Motorsports drivers on the NASCAR tracks.
The affiliated Hendrick Automotive Group dealership company again tops our annual list of the state’s largest private companies, which is based on revenue. Twenty-five companies turned over at least $1 billion last year, based on data shared by the organizations or research by BNC staffers. Among those leaving the list is Raleigh-based Leith Cars, where Hendrick started selling cars in the mid-1970s. New Jersey-based Holman bought the business from the Leith family in March.
The list includes North Carolina-based companies, which are mostly closely held or family-owned enterprises. A growing number are owned by private equity groups.
Newcomers this year include mobile-phone retailer Victra, engineering and design firm Kimley-Horn and National Power, which distributes generators and associated equipment.
KEY UPDATES
Changes at some BNC 125 Top Private Companies over the past year.
1. Hendrick Automotive Group
In October, veteran Charlotte finance executive Jeff Brown succeeded Greg Gach as
president of the largest U.S. privately owned auto dealership company. American Banker named Brown “Banker of the Year” in 2022 for leading Ally Financial, where he was CEO since 2015. Hendrick has been a longtime customer of Ally, which rebranded from GMAC, the former finance unit of General Motors. Brown’s work includes maintaining Hendrick
Automotive’s four-year run as the top-ranked dealer group for online reputation, according to the Reputation.com website. Hendrick has more than 11,000 employees at 94 dealership locations, 21 collision centers and four accessories distributor installers in 13 states. The company is building facilities in five cities. In June, Hendrick donated about 23 acres of land to Central Piedmont Community College for its campus in southeast Mecklenburg County.
2. Epic Games
The video-game company remains a powerhouse because of its Fortnite and Unreal franchises, attracting $1.5 billion in capital from Disney in February. Its valuation was then reported as $22.5 billion, according to industry publication Information. But growth is harder to come by; it laid off 16% of its staff last fall, about 800 people, including 170 in the Triangle. The valuation is lower than Epic had previously reported. In July, Alain Tuscan, the company’s executive vice president of game development, left to become president of Netflix Games. Co-founder Tim Sweeney retains a net worth of about $5.7 billion, Forbes estimates.
5. Belk
For the first time since its 2015 sale, the department-store chain isn’t controlled by New York private equity group Sycamore Partners. In July, Belk said it reduced debt by almost $1 billion and secured $485 million in capital in transactions that put controlling interest with its lenders, including New York investors KKR and Hein Park. The Belk family sold the business to Sycamore Partners for $3 billion, amid a long-term slide in the department-store industry. The chain operates about 300 stores.
11. Parkdale Mills
Charles Heilig, who has been president of the Gastonia-based textile company since 1998, will chair the National Council of Textile Organizations, a trade group representing the U.S. fiber, yarn, fabric and textile industries. The Greensboro native is a graduate of NC State University. Parkdale is the largest consumer of cotton in the U.S. with 29 plants in the U.S., Mexico and South America, according to its website.
12. Victra
Greenville’s Rich Balot has built his chain of Verizon retail stores from one to more than 1,700 over the past two decades, earning him designation as a winner of EY’s Entrepreneur of the Year Southeast Award. He sold controlling interest in his Victra retail business to a private equity group in 2015, came back as CEO in 2019 and regained a majority interest in 2021. It made its biggest acquisition, Go Wireless, in 2022.
15. Anderson Automotive Group
Last summer’s purchase of seven dealerships in South Carolina from MCE Automotive Group represented almost $500 million in annual revenue for Raleigh-based Anderson. The family owned dealership group ranked 71st nationally in 2022 unit sales, according to Automotive News. The acquisition of Chevrolet, Genesis, Hyundai, Kia, Nissan and Toyota dealerships in the Upstate South Carolina, area pushes Anderson’s total to 18 properties. Andy Anderson started the company in 1955. It’s now led by his son Fred and grandson Michael.
17. Samet
The family-owned Greensboro company is ranked as the largest N.C.-based company on Engineering News-Record’s list of 400 biggest contractors, with revenue topping $1.4 billion. Among its biggest projects is the 27-story Oro Ballantyne apartment building in south Charlotte, developed by Northwood Office. Samet also is building a 19,340-square-foot terminal at Statesville Regional Airport that is expected to be completed in fall 2025.
24. Concord Hospitality Enterprises
Will Loughran joined the Raleigh-based hotel company in April as chief operating officer, overseeing more than 140 properties. He had spent the previous nine years at San Clemente, California-based Evolution Hospitality, which more than tripled to 100 properties during his tenure. He previously worked at Richfield Hospitality, Sage Hospitality Resources and Marriott International. Concord is considering international expansion beyond its U.S. and Canadian markets.
29. Form Technologies
The industrial parts company makes 5 billion high-precision components annually at 28 plants in 19 countries. It is considering a potential sale, Bloomberg News reported in April, though the company provided no comment. It is owned by three private-equity investors: Switzerland-based Partners Group, New York-based Kenner & Co., and American Industrial Partners. CEO David Angell was a longtime leader of Form Technologies subsidiary Dynacast.
48. Fleet Feet
Founded in 1976 and specializing in running gear, it has 273 stores in 40 states and Washington, D.C. It has another 20 Marathon Sports locations, which were acquired in 2022. Two-thirds of the stores are owned by franchisees. Joey Pointer is a 20-year veteran of the company who became CEO in 2017. About 75% of sales come from footwear. Fleet Feet plans to open 15 stores this year.
67. Tepper Sports & Entertainment
Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper agreed in July to keep the team in Charlotte for 20 years as part of an $800 million plan to renovate Bank of America Stadium. About $650 million will come from Charlotte’s hospitality and tourism tax; Tepper will cover the balance. While the Panthers have not been successful on the field, the NFL and Charlotte FC games and other stadium events are major economic jolts for the Queen City, city leaders say.
72. OrthoCarolina
Dr. Leo Spector succeeded Bruce Cohen as CEO in January at the practice that he joined as a spine surgeon in 2007. Started in 2005, OrthoCarolina has more than 112 physician shareholders, 472 medical providers and 1,700 employees. Its more than 30 practices stretch from Boone to Bennettsville, South Carolina. Spector is OrthoCarolina’s first CEO with an MBA. He earned the degree from Duke University in 2020.
81. Prometheus Group
In mid-2023, Prometheus Group received a major investment from private equity groups Advent International and Leonard Green & Partners. Genstar, which acquired Prometheus Group in 2019, and Eric Huang, the company’s CEO and founder, retain meaningful stakes. Its software support enterprise research plan providers such as SAP and Oracle. Huang is a graduate of NC State University who says Prometheus operates “in a boring space” with little competition, WRAL Techwire reported in 2019.
92. Tencarva Machinery
Tencarva acquired West Virginia-based Tri-State Coating and Machine in May. It was the second acquisition for the 45-year-old Greensboro business since it partnered with New York-based private equity group Bessemer Investors in 2021. Tri-State specializes in thermal coating services. Tencarva distributes and services flow control and processing equipment for industrial and municipal customers.
95. Strata Clean Energy
The self-described family-owned company says it holds majority interests in its solar and battery storage projects. Two noteworthy ones are going on in Phoenix. In January, it broke ground on a 1-gigawatt battery storage complex that is expected to open in April and store enough electricity to power 50,000 Arizona homes during peak summer demand for 20 years. In July, Durham-based Strata made a similar deal with Arizona Public Service for a storage complex to power about 24,000 homes, pending its expected completion in April 2026.
97. National Power
In October, Charlotte-based Ridgemont Equity Partners led a recapitalization of the Raleigh-based company that was founded by Eddie Youngblood in 1985. The company provides power reliability and resilience solutions, such as generators and batteries, for more than 1,500 customers across many industries. It is led by CEO Chris Hutter, who joined National Power in 2020 after working as chief operating officer of PowerSecure, a unit of Southern Company.
100. Eagle Transport
Herb Evans, vice chair of the Rocky Mount-based company, was chair of the National Tank Truck Carriers trade association in 2023-24. He met company founder Don Stallings while the two were growing up in Atlantic Beach in the 1950s. The company runs 550 diesel-powered tractors and 800 tank trailers and employs more than 1,000 people, according to Bulk Transporter,
a trade publication.
101. Blythe Development
Earlier this year, the Charlotte paving contractor completed an employee stock ownership plan that put company stock in the hands of more than 800 people. Blythe family members, who have controlled the business since its formation in 1921, viewed the change as a way to maintain family involvement and as a way to reward and retain employees. The company ranks among the largest 400 U.S. contractors, according to Engineering News-Record.
102. Mercalis
After operating as Trialcard for two decades, the company rebranded last year to Mercalis, a Latin word related to “for commerce” and shorthand for “commercializing life sciences.”
The company helps life-sciences businesses commercialize their drugs and other products. It has been owned since 2017 by Odyssey Investment Partners.
103. Smart Choice
This marks the eighth consecutive year that the insurance network has added at least 1,000 agencies. Douglas Witcher started the business in 1994 as a network for independent agencies to broker a variety of insurance products. More than 10,000 agencies are now part of Smart Choice.
104. Reeds Jewelers
Seventy-eight years after Bill and Roberta Zimmer opened a store in downtown Wilmington, the Zimmer family in July celebrated a renovated flagship hometown location in the Port City’s Mayfaire Towne Center. Reeds is the largest family-owned jewelry store chain with about 65 stores in 13 states.
115. Pendo
The company launched in 2013 hit some key milestones in the past fiscal year, including topping $200 million in annual recurring revenue, launching a record number of new products and adding more than 400 customers. Pendo counts as customers nearly half of the top 100 public software companies by market cap. In July, Pendo bought New York-based Zelta AI to expand its artificial intelligence functionality. ■
Click here to view the full PDF of BNC’s top 125 private companies
