Texas-based Emler Swim School purchased Jacksonville-based AQUAfin Swim School, according to a Sept. 25 news release.
Two-time Olympic swimmer and Bolles School graduate Nim Shapira founded AQUAfin in 2017. There are eight locations in Florida.
Shapira represented Israel in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. He competed in the 100-meter and 200-meter freestyle races.
The Emler Swim School, established in 1975, is headquartered in Bedford, Texas. It has more than 60 locations in 15 states. The AQUAfin locations will be Emler’s first Florida schools.
In 2022, investment funds managed by New York-based Morgan Stanley Capital Partners, a private equity team at Morgan Stanley Investment Management, completed an investment in Emler Swim School.
Morgan Stanley Capital Partners said then that Emler CEO Greg Laird and President and CFO Jim Draudt would continue to lead the business and support Emler as it acquired more swim schools.
Morgan Stanley Investment Management said in 2022 it has $1.3 trillion in assets under management.
The Heritage Capital Group, with offices in Jacksonville and Savannah, Georgia, brokered the AQUAfin sale. Bill Prescott, former Jacksonville Jaguars CFO, led the Heritage Capital team.
Other team members were Joe Hawkins, Howard Serkin, Chuck West, Robert Cilek and Bobby Ward.
Terms of the sale were not disclosed.
AQUAfin teaches infants through adults. Classes are based on swimming proficiency as well as age. Emler has 11 levels of instruction that include swimming and water safety.