Industry: Home Services
Home services private equity
Funds are merging HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing and pest control firms into regional platforms. Whether you sell, take on a partner or buy add-ons, we prepare the CIM, model and valuation buyers test.
- Deal data and active buyers for HVAC, plumbing, roofing and pest control
- CIMs, models and valuations for a full sale, a partial sale or an add-on
- Waveup prepares investor materials for home services companies: $3B+ raised for 600+ startups since 2014
In short
What is home services private equity?
Home services private equity is buyout money for firms that repair and maintain homes, from HVAC and plumbing to pest control. A fund buys a platform, then adds smaller local firms to it. Owners may sell everything or keep a stake in the larger group. Capstone Partners' July 2026 report counted 47 sponsor deals in HVAC services that year.
- Who it's for
- Owners of HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, pest control and landscaping firms, and the platforms that buy them
- What we build
- CIM, financial model, valuation, buyer list, data room, lender deck
- Prices
- CIM from $10,000, model from $3,000. Flat fees
- Track record
- $3B+ raised for 600+ startups since 2014; 50+ M&A transactions supported, including 20+ exits
Market data checked on 8 November 2026. Sources are under each section.
Why are private equity firms buying home services companies?
Homes always need repairs, and the trades are full of small, independent firms. Funds merge them into regional groups that share buying, marketing and back offices.
The opportunity
Owners who prepare can choose between many funded buyers.
- In 2025, Cherry Bekaert counted three times as many active buyers as five years earlier
- Some platforms keep the local brand and team after a sale
- Alpine said in 2024 that technicians at HVAC firms it buys earn 20% more in year one
The problem
Owners who don't sell now compete with funded platforms. PE investors bought nearly 800 HVAC, plumbing and electrical companies between 2022 and October 2024, PitchBook data showed.
Market size
How big is the home services market, and what drives it?
Harvard's housing center expects homeowners to spend about $525 billion a year on improvements and repairs through Q3 2027. Four trends shape the trades that do that work:
- Equipment demand: residential equipment sales at HVAC distributor Watsco grew 7% in Q3 2026
- Skilled labour: BLS projects HVAC mechanic jobs to grow 11% from 2025 to 2035
- Power demand: BLS expects data centers to lift electricity demand, with about 72,700 electrician openings a year to 2035
- Consolidation: pest control group Rollins made 16 acquisitions in the first nine months of 2026
Private equity
What do private equity buyers pay for HVAC companies now?
Sponsors made 47 deals in HVAC services in 2026 to late July, one more than a year earlier, Capstone Partners counted. Average prices have settled well below their 2021–2023 level.
PE add-on deals in HVAC services in 2026 to late July, the largest group of deals
brands at Sila Services when Goldman Sachs Alternatives agreed to buy a majority, November 2024
Alpine Investors' continuation deal for Apex Service Partners, a residential HVAC, plumbing and electrical platform (2023)
Who invests in home services companies?
Buyout funds that build platforms, lower mid-market funds, the platforms themselves and listed consolidators. Platforms often pair the fund's equity with loans from private credit funds to pay for add-ons.
What slows a home services sale or raise?
In our Fundraising 2025 study, 56 VCs named revenue growth, unit economics, burn and missed milestones as top reasons to pass. Defensibility and crowded categories came next. Buyers of trade firms test the same basics through four questions.
Technicians you can keep
BLS projects about 40,600 openings for HVAC mechanics and installers each year to 2035. Many will replace workers who retire or change jobs.
What investors ask
- How many technicians would stay if you sold tomorrow?
What your deck shows
- Technician tenure, turnover and revenue per technician
- How you train apprentices, with numbers
A business that runs without you
In 2024, Redwood Services said it pays about $1 million on average for small firms it buys outright. In larger firms, it takes a majority stake instead.
What investors ask
- Who runs sales, dispatch and hiring when you step back?
What your deck shows
- A general manager and service manager already in place
- Profit after paying the owner a market salary
Prices below the peak
Capstone found HVAC services deals averaged 9.5x EBITDA from 2024 to mid-2026, against 13.3x in 2021–2023. A buyer pays above the average only for a reason it can check.
What investors ask
- Why is your business worth more than the average deal?
What your deck shows
- Revenue from maintenance plans and repeat customers
- Growth by trade and location, before any acquisitions
Flat spending on homes
Harvard's housing center expects improvement and repair spending to grow just 1.5% in the year to Q3 2027. Growth then has to come from market share, price or new trades.
What investors ask
- Where will growth come from if homeowners spend about the same?
What your deck shows
- Growth split into price, volume and new trades
- Marketing cost per booked job, by channel
How we help you sell or raise
Flat fees agreed before we start. No success fee on advisory work.
A growth or platform story built on trades, routes and margins.
Revenue by trade and technician, margins, add-ons and debt, month by month.
A range built on adjusted EBITDA and recent deals in your trade.
Platforms, sponsors, family offices and lenders that fit your size.
Licences, technician records, customer contracts and job data, ready to review.
For a full sale, a partial sale or your own add-ons.
Our nearest public work: the CIM behind a $75M-revenue utility group's buyout, and a lender deck for an acquisition. Past projects also include a cleaning services company and a moving marketplace.
Who we are
Waveup is a London-based fundraising and growth advisory, working in 60+ countries and 90+ industries. Since 2014 we have built the decks, models, CIMs and valuations behind $3B+ raised for 600+ startups. Our partner Olena Petrosyuk worked in M&A at Lazard, J.P. Morgan and Philips.
About usHome services private equity FAQ
How does a home services roll-up work?
How much is an HVAC business worth?
Should I sell my home services company to private equity?
What do private equity buyers look for in a home services company?
Is private equity bad for home services?
How much does help with a home services sale or raise cost?
Industries we work with
All industriesSelling or raising for a home services company?
Tell us your trade, your size and your plan: a sale, a partner or add-ons. We'll show you what buyers and lenders check first.
