Has anyone here successfully acquired a commercial HVAC and/or plumbing company without personally holding a Master Mechanical or Master Plumber license?

I understand that in many jurisdictions you need a properly licensed individual to pull permits and legally operate. With the skilled labor shortage and many master-level tradespeople nearing retirement, I’m curious how buyers are structuring these acquisitions. Specifically: Are you hiring and retaining a licensed master as a W-2 employee? Structuring equity partnerships? Using another structure I’m not thinking of? I’d appreciate insight into: What lenders (especially SBA) required - I know you cant keep the owner on for use of license more then a year on SBA correct? How you mitigated license-holder risk Retention strategies that actually worked Pitfalls to avoid Thanks in advance for any firsthand experience or lessons learned.