Can anyone help with HVAC? - Lost License Issue (Looking for advice)

May 13, 2026

by a professional from Dallas Baptist University in Dallas, TX, USA

Looking for operators who've structured non-traditional HVAC acquisitions. Target shop: $100K revenue, 3 sprinter vans, 3 techs, $80K cash position. Lost their license holder last month. 3 trucks at ~$33K/truck/year is roughly 1/10th of the industry benchmark. The infrastructure is there. The operating system isn't. The seller is proposing an equity transfer. I think that's the wrong instrument. The primary operating asset (the license) walked out the door, and my side is bringing a new license holder in. That asymmetry needs to be priced into the structure, not waved away with equity. Curious if anyone has structured: License-holder-as-equity-contribution Asset purchase + earnout with the seller staying on for transition Anything creative when the "company" is really brand + assets + cash, minus the operating entity DMs open. We've done a few acquisitions, but never with this exact shape.

Reply by a searcher
from University of Michigan in Raleigh, NC, USA

What's the value in acquiring something this small and poorly performing? Do they have 100's of Google reviews? Are they getting dozens of calls per day? If those technicians have nowhere to work and only $100k in revenue, if they are decent technicians they will be gone in no time. If they stick around and wait, it probably means you don't want them anyway. I wouldn't pay anything upfront for a $100k revenue business...the most I would pay is a "per lead" amount for the first 6-12 months (i.e. they get $X for every lead the business receives).

Reply by an admin
from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Portland, OR, USA

^redacted might be able to help with HVAC. Or press @ to tag someone else in a better position to help! And thank you for making Searchfunder a more collaborative community! :-)

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