CCMP Growth Partners with Airo Mechanical in Southeast HVAC & Plumbing Buyout

In a deliberate play on infrastructure and skilled trades consolidation, CCMP Growth Advisors has taken a majority stake in Airo Mechanical. The investment marks a strategic bet on the HVAC and plumbing installation segment - especially in the fast-growing multifamily and light commercial markets across the Southeast. For Airo, it opens a new phase of growth backed by operational capital, board-level expertise, and market expansion momentum.

Deal Summary

• Buyer: CCMP Growth Advisors, a private equity firm that targets high-growth, lower-middle-market companies in industrial and consumer sectors.
• Target: Airo Mechanical, a provider of HVAC and plumbing installation services.
• Geographic Footprint: Primarily operates in the Southeastern U.S., with established presence in North Carolina and expanding operations in South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee.
• Customer Segments: Focused on multifamily residential and light commercial developers, as well as general contractors, delivering new construction, retrofit, and replacement services.
• Leadership & Ownership: Airo’s existing leadership - CEO Matt Baude and CFO Angelia Ryan - remain with significant equity.
• Board and Advisory: Pete Papagiannis, former BGIS COO with 30+ years of operations experience in technical services, joins Airo’s board to guide strategic expansion.
• Growth Objectives: Under CCMP’s backing, Airo plans to invest in its service offering (especially retrofit and replacement), accelerate its tech infrastructure, expand into new Southeast markets, and enhance talent development.
• Advisors: Houlihan Lokey acted as financial and debt advisor to CCMP; legal counsel included Ropes & Gray for CCMP and Holland & Knight for Airo.

Industry Context

This transaction underscores growing investor appetite for consolidating HVAC and plumbing installation across the U.S., especially in underserved or fragmented regional markets. The trades services sector remains fragmented: many regional contractors operate independently, lacking the capital or scale to optimize operations or enter new geographies. At the same time, demand is rising in multifamily development and light commercial construction - fueled by housing shortages, demographic shifts, and continued commercial investment.

Institutional buyers like CCMP see opportunity in platform building: by aggregating trade specialists, they can generate synergies in procurement, standardize best practices, and layer on advanced processes like digital estimation and project management. This approach enables scale while preserving local strengths - a core feature of modern lower-middle-market roll-ups in the built-environment.

Lower-Middle-Market Roll-Up Perspective

From a private equity standpoint, the Airo deal aligns with a textbook roll-up strategy:

1. Platform Creation: CCMP is not merely buying a contractor; it's building a platform around high-quality, technically capable service providers.
2. Founder & Operator Alignment: By keeping existing management as significant shareholders, CCMP ensures continuity, operational discipline, and alignment of incentives.
3. Sector Expertise: The addition of Pete Papagiannis to Airo’s board brings deep domain expertise in scaling service businesses and executing M&A - especially relevant for CCMP’s long-term value creation agenda.
4. Balanced Growth Model: CCMP is backing both organic (tech investments, talent, service expansion) and inorganic growth (market expansion), allowing Airo to scale methodically without over-leveraging its business.
5. Resilience & Recurring Value: Installation services in HVAC and plumbing offer recurring and mission-critical business: new installs, retrofits, and replacements provide a pipeline, while reputation and reliability secure repeat business.

Why This Sector Is Attractive for Roll-Ups

Several macro and micro factors make HVAC and plumbing installation services a compelling target for roll-up:

• Construction Tailwinds: Multifamily construction remains robust in many Sun Belt markets, where population growth and affordability constraints drive developers.
• Aging Inventory: Many existing buildings in target markets are ripe for retrofit or HVAC system replacement, fueling maintenance and upgrade demand.
• Labor Constraints: Skilled trade workers are in short supply; consolidated platforms can pool labor, improve training, and drive efficiency.
• Technology Adoption: Investment in digital estimation, prefabrication, and project management tools boosts productivity and margins.
• Capital Intensity vs Fragmentation: While these are cap-intensive businesses, they remain highly fragmented - making them favorable for platform PE investors who bring capital, process, and scale.

Conclusion

CCMP Growth’s acquisition of Airo Mechanical is a clear manifestation of how lower-middle-market private equity is reshaping skilled trade services. For Airo, the partnership unlocks capital, advisory strength, and operational scale without sacrificing management continuity. For CCMP Growth, it reinforces a disciplined platform strategy anchored in technical excellence and disciplined growth execution. And for the broader market, it signals that installation services for HVAC and plumbing remain fertile ground for consolidation - especially in regions with strong construction momentum and labor challenges.

For contractors, founders, and operators in the MEP (mechanical, electrical, plumbing) space, this transaction offers a roadmap: building regional leadership, investing in systems and people, and partnering with a sponsor that values both growth and continuity.