---
title: "Plumbing M&A: The Quiet Roll-Up"
description: "U.S. median plumbing business sale price up 40% from 2021 to 2024 ($450K → $640K). EBITDA multiples 6.3x – 11.1x. Wrench Group and Apex anchor the consolidation."
slug: "plumbing-ma-2025"
canonical: "https://mainstreetwealth.ai/resources/plumbing-ma-2025"
collection: "resources"
collection_name: "M&A Resources & Insights"
author: "Sukhrobjon Ismoilov"
category: "market-trends"
date_published: "2026-05-22T13:58:54.306Z"
date_modified: "2026-05-22T13:58:54.427Z"
token_estimate: 2317
source: "https://mainstreetwealth.ai/resources/plumbing-ma-2025.md"
---

# Plumbing M&A: The Quiet Roll-Up


> U.S. median plumbing business sale price up 40% from 2021 to 2024 ($450K → $640K). EBITDA multiples 6.3x – 11.1x. Wrench Group and Apex anchor the consolidation.

**Author:** Sukhrobjon Ismoilov  
**Published:** 2026-05-22  
**Updated:** 2026-05-22  
**Canonical:** https://mainstreetwealth.ai/resources/plumbing-ma-2025

![Plumbing M&A: The Quiet Roll-Up](https://mainstreetwealth.ai/home-services-infographics/07-plumbing-ma.svg)

*Figure 7 — U.S. plumbing trails HVAC in M&A headlines but matches it in private-equity roll-up intensity. The median plumbing business sale price rose 40% from $450K in 2021 to $640K in 2024 (BizBuySell). EBITDA multiples for private plumbing transactions range from 6.3x – 11.1x with a median of 8.5x (First Page Sage). The Wrench Group (Leonard Green) and Apex Service Partners (Alpine, $3.4B continuation) are the anchor national platforms.*

# Plumbing M&A: The Quiet Roll-Up

Plumbing rarely makes M&A headlines the way HVAC and roofing do, yet the consolidation activity is nearly identical. Most large home services platforms are HVAC + plumbing combined, and plumbing-only platforms have proliferated in markets like Texas, Florida, and California. The economics are very similar to HVAC — recurring service revenue, emergency premium pricing, density compounding, and 80%+ founder-led ownership — which is why the same PE allocators show up on both sides of the trade.

For sellers thinking through an exit, our [plumbing industry page](https://mainstreetwealth.ai/industries/plumbing) covers the practitioner-level sell-side context.

## The +40% sale price story

The most striking single datapoint in plumbing M&A is the BizBuySell-tracked **median sale price trajectory**:

- **2021**: $450,000 median sale price
- **2024**: $640,000 median sale price
- **Change**: +40% over four years

That trajectory reflects three forces: rising plumbing business revenues and earnings, recurring revenue mix expansion, and PE-driven multiple expansion as institutional buyers entered the market in volume. Importantly, the BizBuySell median captures smaller, owner-operator transactions ($500K–$2M total deal size). Mid-market plumbing platforms with $2M+ EBITDA transact at materially higher multiples to PE buyers.

## Plumbing EBITDA multiples in 2025

First Page Sage's 2025 construction valuation report shows plumbing transacting at:

- **Range**: 6.3x – 11.1x EBITDA
- **Median**: **8.5x**
- **Top decile**: 11.1x

That puts plumbing roughly in line with roofing (median 8.4x) and slightly below residential HVAC (9.2x median). The variance within the range is substantial: a $2M EBITDA plumbing business with 50% recurring service revenue, low customer concentration, and clean compliance might command 9.5x – 10.5x. The same business with primarily one-time emergency revenue and customer concentration risk might trade at 6.5x – 7.5x.

## Wrench Group: the original blueprint

The **Wrench Group** is the anchor national plumbing/HVAC platform and the model many other roll-ups copy:

- **Origin**: Formed in 2016 by Investcorp combining four locally operated companies in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, and Phoenix
- **2019 sale**: Investcorp sold to Leonard Green & Partners
- **Sub-acquisitions**: Williams Comfort Air, Morris-Jenkins (Charlotte, NC), NexGen HVAC & Plumbing (Southern California, May 2022), and many others
- **Geographic footprint**: National, with strong Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Los Angeles metros

Wrench's strategy is straightforward: acquire dominant local HVAC + plumbing operators in major metros, run them on shared infrastructure (call centers, dispatch tech, marketing, training), and aggregate to a national-scale exit. The model has been replicated by Apex Service Partners, Leap Brands, and a number of regional PE-backed platforms.

## Apex Service Partners: the largest residential platform

Apex Service Partners is now the **largest U.S. residential HVAC, plumbing, and electrical services platform**:

- **Founded**: 2019 in Tampa, Florida by Alpine Investors
- **2025 milestone**: **$3.4 billion single-asset continuation transaction** in May 2025; Alpine's Fund IX invested $450M alongside the continuation fund
- **PitchBook total raised**: **$8.06 billion** across all rounds
- **Partner brands**: Many leading regional providers across U.S. metros

Apex's $3.4B valuation on a six-year-old platform validates the institutional appetite for residential trades roll-ups at scale. The continuation structure — keeping ownership beyond a typical exit window — signals conviction that more value is unlocked through additional acquisitions.

Other major plumbing/HVAC platforms include **HomeX Services Group**, **Service Experts** (Lennox subsidiary), **Five Star Home Services**, and a long list of regional platforms.

## Why plumbing rivals HVAC for PE attention

Five reasons plumbing transacts at 6.3x – 11.1x EBITDA, comparable to HVAC and roofing:

**1. Emergency premium pricing.** Burst pipes, flooding, and clogged main lines create non-deferrable service calls. The hourly rate for emergency response is typically 2–3x the standard rate.

**2. Recurring service plans.** Annual maintenance memberships covering drain cleaning, water heater inspection, and water line monitoring create predictable recurring revenue. Strong operators run 30–40% of revenue through these programs.

**3. HVAC + plumbing pairing.** Many PE platforms want both trades under one roof. Plumbing-only operators with strong residential focus often attract bidders looking for plumbing capability to attach to an existing HVAC platform.

**4. Wage uplift is real.** Alpine reports an average **20% first-year pay increase** for technicians at Apex acquisitions — a signal that the typical operating model post-acquisition raises wages rather than cutting them.

**5. 80%+ founder-led.** Like HVAC, the bulk of plumbing operators are family or founder-led, and the supply of sale-ready businesses is large.

## What this means for plumbing sellers

Three takeaways for owners considering a sale:

1. **Recurring revenue mix is the dominant multiple lever.** A plumbing business with 30%+ of revenue under maintenance agreements often commands a 1.5–2.5x EBITDA premium versus an otherwise identical break-fix shop.

2. **Service-only plays differently than service + new construction.** Pure residential service operators attract more PE interest than mixed service/new-construction shops, because the recurring service component is what drives premium multiples.

3. **HVAC attach is a structural value driver.** A plumbing business with a small but established HVAC service capability often gets bid up by HVAC-focused platforms looking for plumbing entry, and by plumbing-focused platforms looking for HVAC attach.

For sellers in adjacent residential trades that often combine with plumbing, see our [HVAC industry page](https://mainstreetwealth.ai/industries/hvac), and for electrical and other complementary services, our [other home services industry page](https://mainstreetwealth.ai/industries/other).

## Bottom line

Plumbing is one of the most actively rolled-up home services trades despite the relative absence of headline-grabbing megadeals. The +40% jump in median sale price from 2021 to 2024 is the simplest evidence of the market's depth. With Apex's $3.4B continuation, Wrench's national footprint, and dozens of regional platforms in active acquisition mode, the seller's market for $1M+ EBITDA plumbing operators is among the strongest in any home services trade.

---

## Sources

1. BizBuySell, ["Plumbing Business Valuation Multiples & Financial Benchmarks"](https://www.bizbuysell.com/learning-center/valuation-benchmarks/plumbing/) (median sale $450K → $640K, 2021–2024)
2. First Page Sage, ["EBITDA & Valuation Multiples for Construction Companies 2025"](https://firstpagesage.com/business/ebitda-valuation-multiples-for-construction-companies/) (Plumbing 6.3x – 11.1x range, 8.5x median)
3. Alpine Investors, ["Alpine Closes $3.4B Single-Asset Continuation Transaction for Apex Service Partners"](https://alpineinvestors.com/update/single-asset-continuation-transaction-apex-service-partners/) (May 2025)
4. Alpine Investors, ["Alpine Launches Apex Service Partners"](https://alpineinvestors.com/update/alpine-launches-apex-service-partners/)
5. PitchBook, [Apex Service Partners Company Profile](https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/277513-30) ($8.06B raised total)
6. Leonard Green & Partners, ["Investcorp Announces Sale of The Wrench Group"](https://www.leonardgreen.com/investcorp-announces-sale-of-the-wrench-group-to-leonard-green/)
7. PE Hub, ["PE-backed Wrench Group buys HVAC provider Morris-Jenkins"](https://www.pehub.com/pe-backed-wrench-group-buys-hvac-provider-morris-jenkins/)
8. Preqin, ["NexGen HVAC & Plumbing Asset Profile"](https://www.preqin.com/data/profile/asset/nexgen-hvac-&-plumbing/480215) (Wrench acquisition, May 2022)
9. American Investment Council, ["WSJ on PE Transforming Plumbing and HVAC Small Businesses"](https://www.investmentcouncil.org/icymi-wsj-highlights-how-private-equity-transforms-plumbing-and-hvac-small-businesses-boosting-wages-and-growth/) (20% tech pay increase post-acquisition)
10. Morning Brew, ["Private equity wants to unclog your toilet"](https://www.morningbrew.com/stories/2024/10/13/private-equity-wants-to-unclog-your-toilet)