Permira Buys Control of Flint, a Six-Year-Old Home Services Platform

In 2023, when General Atlantic invested in Flint Group, the Kansas City company had seven home services brands in five states, according to Schryver & Co. It now runs 20 brands across 15 U.S. markets, and on Nov. 5 Flint announced that funds advised by Permira had agreed to buy a majority stake from General Atlantic.

Financial terms were not disclosed. Reuters, citing people familiar with the matter, put the deal's value above $1.5 billion, Homepros reported. Homepros also cited the regional business magazine Ingram's as saying Flint generated more than $400 million in revenue in 2025, more than triple its 2022 level.

Flint was founded in 2019 by Trevor Flannigan and Collin Hathaway. It buys long-standing independent HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and sewer and drain businesses, lets them keep their local names, and runs them on a shared playbook for operations, training, recruiting and marketing.

"We started Flint with a simple belief: great local home services businesses can become even better when you give people the right tools, training and support to win," Flannigan said in the announcement.

Permira is pitching itself as a consumer and digital investor, not a contractor's backer. "We are excited to bring Permira's experience of backing and scaling leading consumer platforms, alongside our deep digital expertise, to help the team accelerate Flint's growth and extend its market leadership," said David Erlong, the firm's co-head of consumer. Permira has deployed nearly $18 billion across more than 50 consumer companies, Private Equity International reported.

The money keeps coming even as the targets thin out. We reported in October that home services deal counts were falling as platforms grew scarce. An analysis from BDR found 223 residential services acquisitions announced or completed in 2026 through early October, with private equity sponsors behind 60.5% of them, Hoodline noted in its coverage of Champions Group buying Atlanta's Bardi Heating, Cooling, Plumbing and Electric.

For franchisors in the trades, Flint is the competing offer an independent shop owner hears. A franchise conversion asks the owner to adopt a national brand and pay royalties. A platform like Flint asks the owner to sell, keep the name on the truck and take the playbook.

The deal is expected to close by the end of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals. The number to watch is the brand count, and how fast Permira wants it to climb past 20.