Summit Park has acquired United Air Temp (UAT), a provider of residential heating, ventilation, and air conditioning services, in partnership with Capitala Group, Pareto & Company, and the management team of UAT.
UAT’s founding traces back to 1931 when the Fowler Heating Company was launch in Erie, Pennsylvania. In 1979, the first UAT office opened in Falls Church, Virginia.
Today, the company is headquartered in Lorton, Virginia and is a provider of residential HVAC services in the southeastern US with over 30 branch offices in Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida, and more than 300 technicians and staff. The company is led by CEO Gabe Ivanescu and President Mike Giordano.
“Throughout our history, we have provided our customers with first-class service and been an exceptional place to work for our employees,” said Mr. Ivanescu. “We look forward to continuing to build on that legacy with our new partners.”
The buy of UAT is the result of a targeted effort by Summit to invest in the home services sector due to its fragmentation and the essential nature of its services. Summit Park and UAT are now looking to acquire other HVAC service providers in both current and new geographies; and other residential service providers, including plumbing and electrical.
“We plan to invest significantly in the UAT platform, both through organic initiatives and add-on acquisitions, to expand the company’s geographic reach, build its marketing capabilities, and expand their service offering which is today predominantly HVAC service and repair,” said Bob Calton, co-founding partner of Summit Park. “We are excited about our partnership with Gabe and Mike, and the entire UAT leadership team and are eager to build upon the company’s historical success.”
“For UAT’s next phase of growth, we were looking for partners that could not only provide additional capital and strategic resources, but also a team that shared our values and respected our unique culture,” said Mr. Giordano. “We believe that we found those partners in Summit Park, Capitala, and Pareto and that UAT is poised to capitalize on a number of exciting growth opportunities in the coming years as we execute on our shared vision for the company.”
Summit Park invests in lower middle-market companies that have operations primarily based in the Eastern half of the US and have revenues between $20 million and $100 million and EBITDA between $4 million and $12 million. Sectors of interest include business and consumer services, light manufacturing and value-added distribution.
Backing Summit Park on the UAT transaction were Charlotte-based Capitala Group and Chicago-based Pareto & Company. Capitala, led by CEO Joseph Alala, was founded in 1998 (then CapitalSouth Partners) and has invested more than $2.1 billion in 170 transactions. Pareto, led by CEO Cory Sandrock, is named for Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto who first observed that 80% of effects come from 20% of the causes.
The buy of UAT is the sixth investment for Summit Park III LP which closed in August 2018 with $245 million of capital. The new fund exceeded its original target of $200 million. Summit Park’s earlier fund closed in April 2015 with $118 million of capital.
Summit Park was co-founded by partners Bob Calton and Jim Johnson in 2006 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.
BMO Sponsor Finance provided the debt financing to back Summit’s buy of UAT.
© 2021 Private Equity Professional | February 5, 2021
