Acquisitionverified
Southern HVAC acquires Clearwater's FAST of Florida
What happened. Southern Home Services Corp., the MSouth Equity Partners-backed Southern HVAC platform formed in 2016, acquired Clearwater-based FAST of Florida along with Patrick's Heating & Air Conditioning of Ocala and Duron Smith A/C & Heat of Melbourne. FAST was the largest of the three, with 46 employees and 42 vehicles; it was founded in 1972 by Eddie Vaughan and was being run by his daughter Melissa Vaughan. Southern HVAC CEO Mike Stucky said the businesses were 'a natural fit for the Southern HVAC family,' and FAST general manager David Venier stayed on, saying the new owner 'expects to continue popular service programs while implementing more automated and efficient business systems.' After the round Southern HVAC had seven brands across 12 service locations and over 430 employees in Florida and North Carolina. Benchmark International advised the seller; terms were not disclosed.
Parties
- Company
- FAST of Florida, Inc. · Clearwater, Pinellas County
- Buyer
- Southern HVAC / Southern Home Services Corp.
- Capital
- MSouth Equity Partners
- Price
- Not disclosed
- Employees
- 46 at announcement
The name on the truckFAST of Florida, Inc.
Clearwater, Pinellas County
Operating ownerSouthern HVAC / Southern Home Services Corp.
Orlando, FL
Capital behind it
MSouth Equity Partners
Atlanta, GA
What this kind of deal tends to mean for customers and staff: pricing · sales pressure · technicians · the exit clock.
Sources Verified — primary document
- Southern Home Services Corp. (2017-08-18) — platform site. Buyer's own announcement, dated August 2017
- Newswire (2018-01-02) — press release. Wire release with Stucky quote
- Benchmark International (2018-01-16) — press release. Founder, owner, buyer entity, MSouth sponsorship, completion date
- ACHR News (2018-02-07) — trade press. Trade coverage
Researcher notes: Date is genuinely contested. Southern HVAC's own post is dated 2017-08-18; the Newswire release is 2018-01-02; Benchmark International reported completion on 2018-01-16. The 2017 date is used here to match the buyer's own announcement, but this deal could reasonably be dated to January 2018. | Only FAST of Florida (Clearwater, Pinellas County) falls inside the seven-county Tampa Bay region; the other two companies in this three-way deal (Ocala, Melbourne) do not.
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