Founded in 1960, Demers Ambulance grew over the next five decades into the leading ambulance manufacturer in the Canadian market, with 228 employees and $6 million in EBITDA. While the Beloeil, Quebec–based company had made inroads in the U.S., it had yet to establish a meaningful foothold south of the border.
By 2016, Demers’s then-CEO Alain Brunelle saw an opportunity to take the company to the next level, driven by long-term demographic trends. “An aging population pointed to sustained growth in demand for ambulance services,” says Brunelle, who brought 22 years of leadership experience at Bombardier before joining Demers. “We knew the opportunity was there—we just needed the right partner to help us scale.”
To accelerate its expansion and pursue a more ambitious U.S. market entry, Demers partnered with Clearspring Capital Partners, a Toronto-based mid-market private equity firm with $300 million in assets under management. “We chose Clearspring because we were looking for more than just capital,” says Brunelle. “We wanted people we could engage with on the day-to-day challenges and strategic decisions that come with growth.”
From Clearspring’s perspective, Demers represented a natural fit. “We focus on helping Canadian companies that are regional leaders in their niche expand into national or international champions,” says John Veitch, who led the investment for Clearspring. “Demers was already the market leader in Canada, and we saw a clear path to broadening that position across North America through a combination of organic growth and strategic acquisitions.”
Breaking into the United States
Clearspring’s first move was to better understand the American market. The firm conducted extensive due diligence, surveying more than 1,000 ambulance buyers across North America to identify customer demands and opportunities. What emerged was a stark contrast between Canadian and American buyers. In Canada, procurement is largely standardized at the provincial level, leaving little room for variation. In the U.S., by contrast, customers are far more diverse—from private healthcare providers to municipalities and state agencies—each with distinct budgets and needs, often seeking varying levels of customization.
That insight shaped Demers’s acquisition strategy. Rather than positioning the company as a one-size-fits-all manufacturer, Clearspring and Demers went to work building a portfolio of complementary brands across different segments of the market. The first step came in 2018 with the acquisition of Ohio-based Braun Industries, a manufacturer of high-end, custom-built ambulances. That was followed later that year by the purchase of Crestline Coach Ltd., a Saskatchewan-based emergency vehicle manufacturer, and then Indiana-based Medix Specialty Vehicles in 2021.
“When we made those acquisitions, we were very intentional about avoiding overlap,” says Veitch. “There wasn’t going to be cannibalization between Braun, Medix, Crestline and Demers. Braun is a premium product, while Medix and Crestline offer more standardized, value-oriented options. Demers sits in the middle. They each have their own lane in the market rather than competing with one another.”
Crucially, those acquisitions were not folded into a single operating model. “We made a deliberate choice to allow each company to maintain its distinct identity,” says Brunelle. “That paid off. We were able to retain leadership across the board and, in many cases, elevate those leaders into broader roles within the organization. It strengthened the business as a whole.”
Exceeding Expectations to Become a North American Market Leader
The successful acquisitions sparked a period of sustained growth, even as Demers navigated pandemic-era supply chain disruptions and order backlogs. By 2024, the company had emerged as the market leader in North America, producing one out of every two ambulances sold.
That momentum set the stage for the company’s next chapter. In June 2025, Demers was acquired by Houston-based JB Poindexter & Co., a major player in commercial vehicle and specialty manufacturing. For Clearspring, the decision reflected a long-term view of where the business would thrive.
“We had to think carefully about the right home for Demers, and JB Poindexter was a perfect match because it already operates in adjacent manufacturing segments, with facilities on both sides of the border,” says Veitch. “JB Poindexter is also looking to build something over decades, whereas another private equity firm might be more focused on shorter-term returns, especially in a complex U.S.–Canada trade environment.”
The nine-year partnership between Demers and Clearspring proved transformative. Over that period, Demers’s number of employees grew by 569 per cent to more than 1,500 across North America, expanding from a single facility in Quebec to a network that includes operations in Saskatchewan, Ohio and Indiana. Its North American market share climbed from 10 per cent to 51 per cent and its EBITDA rose from $6 million to $90 million. Those results delivered a 7.5x return on invested capital for Clearspring’s investors and earned the firm the PE Regional Impact Award, Central Canada (Quebec), presented by KALOS.
For Brunelle, who retired the day after the transaction closed, the achievement he’s most proud of is leaving Demers as a Quebec-based North America champion and the creator of nearly 500 high-paying jobs in its longtime home of Beloeil, Quebec. “It’s gratifying to see that the company’s success also created a strong future for its employees,” he says. “That comes down to the partnership with Clearspring. We were able to challenge each other, have honest discussions and stay aligned on one goal: doing what was best for the business.”
