For HVAC owners & contractors · US & Canada
Private equity has been rolling up home services for years, and HVAC is at the center of it. The owners who do best understood what buyers were really pricing — recurring service revenue, technician retention, replacement mix — before they took the first call. Here's the honest version, and a quiet way to find your number.
Free · Confidential · Zero obligation
Tell us the basics below. A principal — not a call center — reviews it personally and replies within one business day with an honest range. No listing. No pressure.
Prefer to explore on your own first? Try the free Exit Profile — no email needed.
The honest version
As an industry rule of thumb — not an appraisal of your company — most HVAC businesses trade at 3.5–5.5x adjusted EBITDA for smaller companies and 4–7x for larger ones, with the strongest recurring-revenue businesses reaching higher. The difference between the bottom and top of the range is rarely revenue; it is how predictable that revenue is. These are the same rule-of-thumb ranges our free calculator uses.
What moves the number
Timing note that costs owners real money: buyers normalize earnings across seasons and want two to three years of clean, consistent financials. Cleaning up the books the year you decide to sell is too late — start before the numbers you'll sell on are created.
The buyers
Which of those is at your table changes your number far more than anything on your equipment list.
The process
Most owners in this sector are approached directly, unsolicited, by a consolidator. That letter is flattering — and it is the single most expensive letter you can accept, because a buyer negotiating against nobody has no reason to move on price or terms.
We run the opposite process: buyers qualified and under NDA before they learn whose business it is; nothing listed, advertised, or published; your staff, customers, and competitors learn nothing until you decide; several credible buyers considering the same opportunity at once. The result is a better number AND better terms — your team, your stay-on period, the earn-out structure, and any real estate.
The steps are the same sitewide: valuation read → quiet preparation → buyers in parallel → compete and choose → diligence to close. Most HVAC engagements run six to twelve months; companies with clean financials and a strong service-agreement book move fastest.
Common questions
As an industry rule of thumb, roughly 3.5–7x adjusted EBITDA depending on size, with recurring service-agreement revenue the biggest single lever. A confidential read gives you a written range based on your actual numbers.
PE-backed home-services platforms, regional strategics, and individual buyers — each pricing the same company differently. Competition among them is what moves your number.
Yes. Buyers sign NDAs before they learn your company's name, and nothing is listed publicly. Your team hears the news from you, when you choose.
More than anything else. Contracted maintenance revenue is predictable, and buyers pay a premium for predictability — it can move a company from the bottom of the range to the top.
Nothing. It's free, confidential, and carries zero obligation. Our economics are success-based — we're paid when your deal closes.
Not before you know your number. An unsolicited offer is priced for the buyer's best case; a confidential read tells you what a competitive process would likely change.
The engine, pointed at your industry
Before market
Buyer matching
Researched and scored against your business — approached under NDA, only with your written go-ahead.
Buyer Simulation
Found and fixed before you go to market — not in diligence, where it costs you money.
Offer analysis
Free · 3 minutes · no email to see it — your range, your value drivers scored, your likely buyers, your readiness, and what each fix is roughly worth in dollars.