If you're reading this, you're one of the first operators on The Dispatch — a twice-weekly intelligence brief for owners of $2M+ HVAC, plumbing, and electrical businesses.
Here's the promise: you'll get a fast, sharp read on the deals, software, and tactics that actually move EBITDA in this industry. No fluff. No consultant jargon. No recycled takes from people who've never run a dispatch board.
I built this because the industry deserves better than what's out there. Let's go.
The Lede: The multiples just got weirder
If you watched Blackstone pay 18.5x EBITDA for Champions Group and assumed your $2M EBITDA business was suddenly worth $37M, I've got bad news.
The Champions multiple was scarcity pricing. There aren't many $200M+ EBITDA residential platforms left to buy. Strategic buyers pay up for what's rare, and a complete multi-state rollup with scale is rare. Your great $2M EBITDA business is not rare — there are thousands of them — and that's why the market still values it at 7-10x, not 18x.
The interesting wrinkle in 2026 is that the range inside any size bucket has widened. Two $2M EBITDA businesses in the same city can trade at 6x and 10x based on service mix, maintenance penetration, and how dependent the business is on the owner. That $4M gap is the only thing that really matters for your planning.
Deal Flow
Redwood Services → Altas Partners, $1.1B valuation. OMERS' exit creates a new majority holder for one of the larger residential platforms. Expect an acceleration of Redwood's acquisition pace through 2026. If you operate in the Southeast or Sun Belt, you're in their scope.
Apex Service Partners hits 107 brands. Alpine Investors' $3.4B continuation fund is doing exactly what it was supposed to — Apex keeps buying. What matters for operators: the post-continuation Apex is behaving like a 10-year hold, not a 3-5 year flip. That changes how they underwrite you (longer payback tolerance = higher multiple for fit).
Southern HVAC adds three in Texas. Three tuck-ins across Houston and DFW, all in the $2-5M EBITDA range. If you're in Texas and haven't gotten an email from Southern's corp dev team, you will.
Operator Tactic: The 11% price raise
One of the most instructive moves I've watched in the last 18 months: a Dallas plumbing operator raised his average ticket 11% over three months ahead of a sale process. Volume was flat. EBITDA grew by $340k in a year.
Here's the mechanic: he audited every job type, pulled the lowest-priced 20% of jobs, and rewrote those prices to match the market. He didn't touch the top 80%. Customers never noticed because each individual job price moved modestly and the touches felt normal — new year, new pricing.
At an 8x multiple, $340k of EBITDA growth = $2.7M of enterprise value. That's the entire game.
The lesson isn't "raise prices." It's this: buyers model off your current pricing. Every month you under-price is a month you give away multiple. If you're planning to transact in the next 24 months, your pricing audit is the highest-ROI hour you can spend this quarter.
The Toolbox: Wisetack's consumer financing play
Wisetack keeps showing up in operator conversations. Their pitch: embed financing at point of sale so more service tickets close, and the average ticket grows because customers are paying $89/mo instead of $4,200.
The real number to watch: approval rate matters more than their posted APR. Approval rates below 60% mean you're still closing low on a lot of calls. Above 75%, you're meaningfully growing average ticket.
One mid-sized HVAC operator told me their close rate on replacements went from 58% to 71% after integrating Wisetack. Their financing vendor is now arguably their most important software partner — above the FSM.
Worth a look if you haven't already.
Ticker
• Service Finance (GreenSky's successor) is quietly becoming the default for large HVAC installations
• ServiceTitan added a new pricing tier aimed at $5M+ revenue operators; early feedback is mixed
• The DOL's overtime rule appeals continue to wind through courts; most operators should assume the status quo through Q3
• Diesel prices finally broke $4/gal nationally, which will pressure residential routing economics in Q2
If this was useful, forward it to an operator friend. That's how I grow this thing.
What did I miss? Hit reply — I read every message.
— AJ
