New Owners Aim to Expand Shasta Pools Nationwide

Shasta Pools unveiled a pool and spa service unit three years ago, and the new owners say that operation will anchor a national home-services brand.

Ownership Change Sets New Direction

In late summer, the 60-year-old Phoenix company was sold to a consortium that includes Dansons Capital Group, Scottsdale-based private-equity firm Accrual Equity Partners (AEP), and Hydro Construction (HydroCon), a contractor focused on commercial pool projects in Arizona.

The consortium aims to broaden the business beyond traditional pool and spa work, using the service division as the core platform for future growth.

Dan Thiessen, chief executive of Dansons Capital, will act as chairman of the newly structured company.

Leadership Shifts and Strategic Hires

Co-founder Skip Ast and his son, former president Skip Ast Jr., have departed. Their relative, former sales manager Skip Ast III, stays on as manager of business development, assisting the new owners with project sourcing.

Dansons Capital’s portfolio spans real estate, oil and gas, drug manufacturing, and formerly the global grill brand Pit Boss, which it sold in 2023 after expanding it worldwide.

“Our experience around consumer products and a customer-focused attitude, we think, will serve us extremely well as we try to expand Shasta beyond just a longstanding pool builder to a really strong player within the home-services areas,” said Jeff Thiessen, president of Dansons Capital.

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“Very few companies have such a legacy like that and have trust built within the community like that,” Jeff Thiessen said. “We want to honor and grow it. That’s why we want to be part of an entire consumer’s life cycle.”

The acquisition marks the investors’ first foray into residential pools, prompting a series of key hires to offset the loss of senior Ast leadership.

A longtime Shasta manager, close to the Thiessen family, will act as a silent partner and assume a higher-level title to preserve institutional knowledge.

San Antonio contractor Vic Harshman joins as head of residential construction. He brings more than three decades of pool-building experience across Arizona, Nevada and Texas, and previously directed construction for Keith Zars Pools.

Expansion Plans and Market Focus

Shasta’s status as a longtime PSN Top 50 Builder shows its market credibility, a factor the new owners see as essential for scaling.

“We can’t share a lot of detail around the national plan yet, as we have a lot of work to do in the immediate area first, as we develop out our thesis,” Jeff Thiessen said. “There’s a lot of work to build that foundation for the next step.”

“Shasta has so many opportunities within its own database that we want to focus on our existing marketplace first… Yes, we are looking at acquisition. It’s a strong way of scaling, but it’s not our primary focus,” Jeff Thiessen said. With a solid foundation in place, Shasta Pools is poised for expansion under its new ownership, aiming to leverage its existing strengths to grow into a national home-services brand.