Mid-market PE firms preparing to exit HVAC platforms to upper-market PE

Middle-market private equity firms that acquired HVAC contractors over the past 5-10 years are approaching their typical 4-6 year hold period and are expected to begin selling platforms to larger 'blue blood' PE firms like JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and KKR. This second wave of consolidation is anticipated to ramp up in late 2025 or early 2026, driven by limited partners seeking returns and potentially lower interest rates.

“But it seems like we are now on to the next phase of this process. Experts in this area are seeing a move from middle-market private equity being interested in HVAC to the upper market becoming more of a player. That means private equity selling these HVAC companies, or a collection of these companies, to other private equity firms.”

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