Maine HVAC Group, Two-Business Combination, $3.6M EBITDA

$18.1M

Revenue

$3.6M

SDE

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is a packaged combination of two established Maine HVAC businesses with complementary geographic footprints across overlapping Maine counties. Together they produce roughly $18.1 million in revenue and about $3.6 million in EBITDA, run by 50 people (39 full-time employees and 11 contractors) out of two Maine locations. The seller is marketing this as a ready-made platform for a strategic buyer to consolidate, cross-sell, and expand technician capacity across the state.

The pitch centers on unmet demand. Management states that current demand exceeds available technician capacity in certain markets, meaning work is being turned away or deferred simply because there are not enough techs. The thesis is that a buyer can add qualified technicians to immediately capture revenue that already exists, then layer in cross-selling across both customer bases, better technician utilization, and operating efficiencies to push EBITDA past $4 million before making another acquisition.

HVAC is a genuinely durable service category built on install, repair, replacement, and recurring maintenance work that customers cannot easily defer, which supports the roughly 20 percent EBITDA margin shown here. The listing frames this as a foundation for a longer-term Maine roll-up, with sellers willing to roll some equity and stay on for 12 to 18 months. The buyer is essentially underwriting an integration and hiring story on top of two operating companies that already throw off real cash.

Why we like it

Earnings quality is strong on paper: roughly $3.6M EBITDA on $18.1M revenue is a ~20 percent margin, which is healthy for HVAC and suggests real service and replacement work rather than thin-margin new construction. The 50-person team including 39 full-time employees shows this is a staffed operating business, not an owner-dependent shop.
HVAC is one of the most durable home services categories: heating and cooling are non-discretionary in a Maine climate, and the mix of maintenance, repair, and replacement generates repeat revenue from an existing installed base. This is the kind of boring, essential cash flow that holds up through a downturn.
The demand-exceeds-capacity claim is a rare tailwind where growth is a hiring problem, not a marketing problem. If verified, a buyer can add technicians against a known backlog and existing customer relationships rather than spending to acquire new demand.
Deal structure is buyer-friendly: sellers will roll equity and stay 12-18 months, with at least one committed to helping grow the platform. That alignment de-risks the integration of two separate entities and keeps institutional knowledge in the building during the transition.

How to improve it

Attack the technician shortage immediately with a recruiting and retention engine: sign-on structures, apprenticeship pipelines, and referral bonuses. Every additional productive tech converts directly into revenue that is already being turned away, so this is the highest-ROI first move.
Build and price recurring maintenance agreements across both customer bases. Converting one-time repair customers into annual service plans smooths revenue, increases retention, and creates a predictable base that lifts enterprise value at exit.
Integrate the two entities onto one field service management and dispatch system in the first 90 days to standardize scheduling, invoicing, and technician utilization. Better utilization is explicitly cited as an EBITDA lever, and you cannot manage utilization across two disconnected back offices.
Systematically cross-sell services between the two customer bases and standardize pricing. Two regional operators likely have different service menus and rate cards, so harmonizing them captures margin and revenue from relationships that already exist.
Consolidate purchasing of equipment, parts, and consumables across both entities to negotiate vendor rebates and volume pricing. On $18M of revenue, even a few points of COGS savings flows straight to the bottom line.
Implement rigorous financial reporting by branch and job type to isolate which markets and service lines actually drive the $3.6M. This clarity is essential before pursuing the roll-up thesis the listing is selling.

Diligence notes

The two businesses are being sold combined, but the financials are presented as combined EBITDA. Demand separate audited or reviewed statements for each entity to confirm the $3.6M is not overstated by add-backs or pro-forma synergies, and to see how much of the number depends on each owner still working.
Verify the backlog and the demand-exceeds-capacity claim with real data: signed contracts, quoted-but-unstaffed jobs, and historical decline rates. The entire growth thesis rests on this being real capacity constraint rather than a marketing narrative.
Scrutinize the revenue mix between new construction install, replacement, repair, and maintenance. New-construction-heavy revenue is more cyclical and lower margin, while the recurring maintenance and replacement base is what makes this durable, so the split materially changes the valuation.
The workforce is 39 full-time plus 11 contractors, and the whole thesis depends on technicians. Confirm licensing, non-competes, wage rates, turnover history, and whether the contractor classification is defensible, because a labor problem here is an existential problem.
No asking price is disclosed, so establish the multiple and structure early. Clarify how much equity sellers will actually roll, the terms of the 12-18 month stay, and whether the $1.8M in FF&E is owned free and clear or encumbered by debt or leases.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →