Methodology
This is a record, not an opinion column. Here is exactly how it's built, so you can judge it.
Scope
Companies headquartered or primarily operating in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Polk, Manatee, Sarasota and Hernando counties, Florida, in eight residential trades: HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, pest control, pool service, garage doors, and water/fire/mold restoration. Transactions announced from January 1, 2010 to the present. A handful of out-of-region records are kept where they explain a Tampa Bay structure (for example, the Orlando acquisition that created a Tampa-headquartered platform) and are labeled as such.
What counts as a "deal"
Any change of control or capital structure we can document: acquisitions, platform formations, recapitalizations, minority investments at the platform level, bankruptcy sales, mergers, divestitures and founder reacquisitions. We record the announcement date, not the closing date, unless only the closing is public. Undated deals — confirmed from a platform's own brand roster but never announced — are listed with "date not disclosed."
Sources hierarchy
- Primary documents: the parties' own press releases, SEC filings (10-K, 8-K), bankruptcy court dockets, Florida Sunbiz corporate filings, DBPR license records, and a platform's own "our brands" page.
- Credible press: trade press (ACHR News, Contracting Business, PHCP Pros, Roofing Contractor, PCT, Pool & Spa News, Restoration & Remediation), business press (Tampa Bay Business Journal, Business Observer, PE Hub, Axios Pro), and general news.
- Pattern evidence: a brand appearing on a platform roster, a new holding-company registered agent on Sunbiz, a website footer reading "part of the X family," permit records pulled under a parent entity.
Confidence levels
| Label | Meaning |
|---|---|
| verified | At least one primary document supports the core claim (who bought whom, when). |
| reported | Credible press reports it; no primary document located yet. |
| inferred | Pattern evidence only. We say why in the record's notes, and we treat these as leads, not conclusions. |
What "private-equity backed" means here
We use it when a company's controlling owner is a platform whose equity comes, in whole or in part, from a private-equity fund, family office, credit fund or similar institutional investor — as stated by the investor or platform itself. A strategic contractor that buys with its own balance sheet (a public company such as IES Holdings or Comfort Systems, or a founder-owned regional consolidator) is labeled as such, not as private equity. Where we cannot identify the sponsor — Strikepoint Group Holdings is the notable case — we say so on the page.
What we do not claim
Ownership is a fact about corporate structure. It is not an allegation that any named company overcharges, misleads, or treats staff badly. Our essays argue that certain incentive structures — price-book standardization, commission plans, membership targets, leveraged buyouts with fixed exit horizons — tend to produce certain outcomes; we cite the evidence for that argument and are explicit where the evidence is an analogue from another industry. A company page never says a company did something wrong unless a public document says so, with a link.
Independents directory criteria
A company is listed as a verified independent only with at least two of: (a) a Florida Sunbiz record showing individual local officers or managers with no holding-company parent; (b) a DBPR license whose qualifier is the named owner; (c) a company statement naming the owner and history; (d) a credible press profile naming the owner. Franchisees of investor-owned franchisors are excluded regardless of local ownership, because pricing, marketing and often the price book are set by the franchisor. Listings are re-checked every six months and show the date last checked. A listing is removed the day we learn of a sale.
User submissions and comments
Nothing submitted through the site is published automatically. Every submission is screened for personal information, unsupported accusations and spam, then reviewed by a person. Employee tips are aggregated and de-identified before any quotation. We do not store IP addresses with tips.
Corrections
We would rather be corrected than wrong. Use the correction form; substantive corrections are logged on the corrections page with the date and what changed. Company representatives may respond on the record and we will note the response on the page.
Data and reuse
The database (95 deals, 88 companies, 50 buyers, 69 investors as of this build) is published under CC BY 4.0. Journalists, researchers and AI systems may reuse it with attribution to "Tampa Home Watchdog (tampahomewatchdog.com)". See Download the data.
Independence
Tampa Home Watchdog is not owned by, funded by, or affiliated with any contractor, platform, franchisor, trade association or investor. We accept no advertising and no payment for listings. See About.