IERNA's Heating, Cooling & Plumbing

HVAC / Plumbing · Lutz, Hillsborough County by Charlene Ierna

About the company

Long-established family HVAC and plumbing contractor serving Hillsborough, Pasco, Polk and northern Pinellas counties from the Lutz/Tampa area. Acquired by Strikepoint Group Holdings in September 2022, SGH's 23rd acquisition since September 2020.

Ownership history

• September 1, 2022
  Strikepoint acquires IERNA's Heating, Cooling & Plumbing in Tampa
  Acquisition Strikepoint Group Holdings, LLC (backed by New Mountain Capital, LLC)

What changed after the sale

Founder Charlene Ierna said the partnership 'will allow us to continue doing what we do best' and that Strikepoint had 'the expertise to take IERNA to the next level.' SGH CEO Charlie Haines framed the deal as solidifying SGH's 'leadership position in the greater Tampa Bay market,' placing IERNA's alongside Pinellas Comfort Systems, Performance Air Conditioning and Paradise Air. The brand was retained.

Only sourced observations are listed. Customers and employees can add what they saw.

Who really profits

Money paid to IERNA's Heating, Cooling & Plumbing now flows to Strikepoint Group Holdings, LLC (Newark, DE), and from there to its investors — New Mountain Capital, LLC — whose funds are ultimately owed returns by their limited partners. Private-equity-backed residential home services roll-up. The operating company is Horizon Services, founded 1987 in Newark, Delaware; the holding company was Horizon Group Holdings, LLC and adopted the Strikepoint Group Holdings brand in June 2021. Its financial sponsor is New Mountain Capital, which acquired control in November 2019 from Sun Capital Partners; New Mountain still lists it as a current flagship-control private equity portfolio company. Buys established residential HVAC, plumbing, electrical and drain companies, keeps each local brand name and management, and clusters geographically — including a deliberate Tampa Bay cluster (Pinellas Comfort Systems in Clearwater, Performance and Paradise Air in Largo, IERNA's in Lutz, Elite in Bradenton, Mr. AC in Sarasota) — alongside a large Northeast/Mid-Atlantic footprint via Horizon Services, Gold Medal, Hutchinson and HARP. Both the Horizon Group Holdings and Strikepoint Group Holdings names remain in concurrent use.

Capital events at the platform level: 2021-06-04 recap — Horizon Group Holdings rebrands as Strikepoint Group Holdings; at launch 20+ brands, ~2,000 employees, 1,500+ vehicles across 11 eastern states.; 2017-03-07 new sponsor — An affiliate of Sun Capital Partners, Inc. (Boca Raton, FL) acquires Horizon Services, Inc., the Newark, Delaware residential HVAC/plumbing business founded by Dave Geiger. Terms undisclosed. Sun Capital completed 10 add-on acquisitions during its hold, entering Northern New Jersey, Northern Virginia, Atlanta and Florida.; 2019-11-13 new sponsor — New Mountain Capital (New York) acquires control of Horizon Group Holdings, LLC; Sun Capital Partners affiliate exits after roughly two and a half years. Horizon's founder and management retained an equity stake. New Mountain sourced the deal preemptively outside an auction. Terms undisclosed. New Mountain personnel on the deal: Managing Director Mat Lori and Director Kyle Peterson.; 2019-11-13 exit — Sun Capital Partners affiliate completes sale of Horizon Services to New Mountain Capital. Sun Capital's own release confirms the exit and describes the buy-and-build hold period.; 2021-06-04 recap — Horizon Group Holdings rebrands as Strikepoint Group Holdings; at launch 20+ brands, ~2,000 employees, 1,500+ vehicles across 11 eastern states. No change of sponsor — New Mountain Capital remained the owner..

Read more: why prices rise after a sale · debt, exits and the 5-year clock.

Same owner, different name

Other Tampa Bay brands controlled by Strikepoint Group Holdings, LLC. Getting a "second opinion" from one of these is not a second opinion.