L Squared Capital Partners and CogneSense to Acquire L&J Technologies

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–L Squared Capital Partners and CogneSense are pleased to announce that they have completed the acquisition of L&J Technologies. L&J is the first acquisition made by CogneSense since its founding by L Squared in late 2023. CogneSense, led by Paul Dhillon, is pursuing a buy and build strategy with a focus on combining longstanding, trusted, and leading environmental sensing, measurement, monitoring, and control businesses with younger companies that add additional technological innovation and capabilities. The focus of this strategy is the highly fragmented Environmental, Health, and Safety end-markets within the broader Sensing and Internet of Things (IoT) market. We will operationally integrate these companies and add resources that will accelerate their go-to-market and R&D capabilities while driving increased operational efficiency at substantially larger scale. 

“We are thrilled to be working with the team at L&J Technologies as the first acquisition as part of the CogneSense strategy. Our mission at CogneSense is to leverage innovative technologies alongside best-in-class companies like L&J, which have been successfully servicing their customer base for decades. Lou Jannotta and the team at L&J have built an industry-leading business, and we are excited to continue providing high-quality products and services to its loyal customers. Jim Jannotta, Lou’s son, who has been with the company for 25 years and served as VP, will become the General Manager of the L&J division,” said Paul Dhillon, Chief Executive Officer at CogneSense.

“I’m thrilled to collaborate with L Squared and CogneSense, driving L&J Technologies to new heights. Together, we’ll leverage cutting-edge technologies, enhance our offerings, and provide even greater value to our loyal customer base,” said Jim Jannotta, General Manager of L&J Technologies. “I’m also personally deeply grateful to my father for building this company from the ground up. His vision and leadership have laid a strong foundation for our future success.”

“L Squared has worked closely with Paul Dhillon on L Squared’s Raptor Scientific platform over the last five years, and together over the last nine months, we have developed the CogneSense strategy to identify the right foundation for the platform. We are very pleased to work with L&J as that starting point,” said Sean Barrette, CogneSense Board Member and Partner at L Squared. “We are committed to providing the necessary capital and strategic resources to accelerate growth and build CogneSense into a leading provider of mission-critical Sensing and IoT solutions to the Environmental, Health, and Safety sectors.”

CogneSense will continue to actively search for acquisition targets of all sizes across the Environmental, Health, and Safety end-markets with a focus on partnering with manufactures of Sensors, Measurement and Control equipment, IoT Device Manufacturers, and Monitoring Application Providers.

The L Squared deal team is comprised of Sean Barrette, Tyler Huez, Jack Foley, and Adam Mokhtarzadeh.

About L&J Technologies

L&J Technologies, founded in 1976, designs, engineers, and manufactures precision industrial tank level gauging, equipment, control systems, and solutions for safety and compliance in bulk storage industrial tank applications. For over 100 years, through their innovative legacy brands like Shand & Jurs, customers have depended on and trusted L&J to provide high-quality, reliable solutions that meet their evolving needs and contribute to a healthier, safer environment. The company serves a diversified set of global customers across several growing markets, including petroleum, petrochemical, chemical, food, pharmaceutical, pipeline, steel, water, and wastewater treatment industries. www.lJtechnologies.com

About CogneSense

CogneSense was founded in 2023 by L Squared Capital Partners to pursue a buy and build strategy within the fragmented Sensing and IoT market. Empowering a healthier future and planet by protecting our shared environment and public health through innovative and sustainable monitoring and control solutions, we deliver reliable measurement, monitoring, and control solutions for highly regulated industries. Dedicated to optimizing the world’s natural resources and protecting our environment and public health from hazards and pollutants, we operate in industries where environmental and emissions regulations are stringent and continuously evolving. CogneSense’s solutions help businesses meet these regulatory requirements efficiently, with an emphasis on secure, real-time monitoring to improve conservation, safety, and operational efficiency. For more information, visit www.CogneSense.com.

About L Squared Capital Partners

L Squared Capital Partners is a private equity investment firm with over $2 billion of equity commitments under management and is headquartered in Newport Beach, CA, that seeks to make long-term investments in leading growth companies that operate in targeted sectors: Education Technology, Tech-Enabled Services & Software, and Industrial Technology & Services. L Squared’s unique investor base of family offices and institutions enables the Firm to focus on long-term value creation driven by revenue and earnings growth, not financial engineering, or market timing. The principals of L Squared have worked together for over 15 years and have over 125 years of combined experience investing in growing private companies. For more information, please visit www.LSquaredCap.com.