A new platform backed by Exuma Capital is buying legacy HVAC and plumbing brands, competing with franchisors for the same independent owners.
American Service Partners launched on October 7 as a national residential HVAC, plumbing, and electrical platform spanning more than 15 states. The company formed by acquiring brands from Platform Partner Holdings and Air Today Holdings, funded by an institutional capital raise sponsored by Exuma Capital Partners.
Anchor brands include A-One Refrigeration in Washington's Tri-Cities, John Stevenson Plumbing, Heating & Air in San Diego, and Howze Plumbing in Dallas-Fort Worth, with a combined 225-plus years in their markets. Each keeps its own name and customers while the platform supplies shared services, real-time performance management, and AI tools.
CEO Landon Brewer said buy-and-flip and buy-and-build private equity have hit headwinds in home services, and he positions the company as operator-led rather than a typical roll-up. Brewer previously held roles at American Residential Services, Legacy Service Partners, and Clockwork Home Services, and scaled Goettl Air Conditioning & Plumbing before its sale to Cortec Group.
Established independent HVAC and plumbing shops are the same owners that conversion franchise programs try to recruit. A platform that offers back-office scale, technology, and an equity outcome without a royalty or a rebrand competes directly for that pool. Franchise brands in the trades need a sharper answer on what their system delivers that a shared-services platform does not.
For independent owners, the choice is now three-way: stay solo, convert to a franchise, or sell into a platform. Each option trades control for support differently, and the right one depends on whether the owner wants to keep running the business, grow it, or exit.
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Revscale Media (illustration)The HVAC company signed five franchise deals in Q3, including its first conversion, and is courting the same independent owners PE platforms want.
