Who is buying plumbing businesses?
Why plumbing is consolidating
- •US plumbing is extraordinarily fragmented: there are about 128,787 plumbing businesses generating roughly $191 billion in revenue, yet the largest national operator — Roto-Rooter, with 600+ locations and over $700M in system sales — accounts for under half a percent of the market (IBISWorld, 2026; Roto-Rooter).
- •Private equity has moved in hard: PitchBook data cited by the Wall Street Journal counted roughly 800 HVAC, plumbing and electrical companies acquired by PE since 2022, as “essential” home services with recurring, non-discretionary demand became a favored roll-up thesis (WSJ, Oct 2024).
- •The wave is large enough to provoke backlash: the 800-member Nexstar Network cut ties with about a third of its members after they were bought by private equity, and its PE-backed share rose from roughly 10% to over 30% in three years (Forbes, Sept 2025).
- •A succession tailwind feeds the deals: many plumbing firms were founded in the 1980s-90s, the average US small-business owner is nearly 60, and plumber employment is projected to grow 6% through 2033 with about 43,300 openings a year — many to replace retiring owners and workers (US Census Bureau; US Bureau of Labor Statistics).
The platforms consolidating plumbing
The named groups acquiring US plumbing businesses, with their current owner and a source for each. Most grow through individual partnerships that are not separately disclosed; where a platform publishes named deals, recent ones are listed.
Roto-Rooter
Strategic / public- Owner
- Chemed Corporation (NYSE: CHE)
- Headquarters
- Cincinnati, OH
- Scale
- 600+ company-owned and franchise locations across the US and Canada — the largest US plumbing and drain-cleaning brand
The de facto national anchor — a public company via Chemed, not a PE platform. It grows organically and through a franchise / independent-contractor network rather than buy-and-build, and even at 600+ locations and ~$700M in system sales it represents under 1% of the fragmented US plumbing market.
P3 Services (formerly Peltram Plumbing Holdings)
Private equity- Owner
- Stellex Capital Management
- Headquarters
- Hockley, TX (Houston area)
- Scale
- 10+ local plumbing brands across the Pacific Northwest, Texas / Southwest and Southeast
The cleanest pure-play plumbing roll-up: Stellex acquired Peltram Plumbing Holdings in January 2022 and rebranded it P3 Services, building a national platform out of independent plumbing companies.
Repipe Specialists
Private equity- Owner
- Gryphon Investors (Heritage Fund); founder retains a significant stake
- Headquarters
- Burbank, CA
- Scale
- National residential repipe specialist (single- and multi-family)
Gryphon’s Heritage Fund acquired Repipe Specialists in 2022; A-1 Total Service Plumbing (January 2025) was its first add-on.
SageWater
Private equity- Owner
- Boyne Capital + Grindstone Partners
- Headquarters
- Alexandria, VA
- Scale
- Multifamily repipe specialist · East Coast, West Coast, Hawaii and Southwest divisions
A specialty contractor that repipes domestic-water and drain piping in multifamily communities; recapitalized by Boyne Capital and Grindstone Partners in 2021.
Len The Plumber (LTP Home Services Group)
Private equity- Owner
- L Catterton (Thompson Street Capital, minority)
- Headquarters
- Baltimore, MD
- Scale
- ~6 plumbing and HVAC brands across the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast
A plumbing-led platform: L Catterton acquired LTP in 2022 with Thompson Street Capital retaining a minority stake. It now also operates HVAC under several brands; the latest publicly confirmed ownership remains the 2022 transaction.
Flow Services Holdings
Private equity- Owner
- Propel Equity
- Headquarters
- Mountain West (HQ city not publicly disclosed)
- Scale
- Early-stage residential sewer, drain and trenchless line-repair platform
A newer, smaller platform: Propel Equity launched Flow Services in March 2024 around a Mountain West sewer-and-drain operator (not named in the announcement).
Regency Plumbing Contractors
Private equity- Owner
- Green Heron Partners
- Headquarters
- Houston, TX
- Scale
- Commercial and industrial plumbing in Greater Houston (founded 1984)
A brand-new platform formed in February 2026; Regency’s management retains a significant ownership position, and Green Heron has signaled it may broaden into a wider facility-services platform.
Wind River Environmental
Private equity- Owner
- Gryphon Investors
- Headquarters
- Marlborough, MA
- Scale
- Largest Eastern-Seaboard consolidator of septic, grease-trap and liquid-waste services; 100+ acquisitions to date
Plumbing-adjacent: septic and wastewater services rather than service plumbing. Gryphon has owned Wind River since 2017; a 2024 trade report noted Gryphon was exploring a sale, so the sponsor could change.
Mr. Rooter Plumbing
Franchisor- Owner
- Neighborly (owned by KKR)
- Headquarters
- Waco, TX (Neighborly)
- Scale
- 250+ franchise locations across the US and Canada
A different consolidation model: Mr. Rooter is a franchise brand within KKR-owned Neighborly, so it grows by selling franchises rather than buying independent plumbers.
Benjamin Franklin Plumbing
Franchisor- Owner
- Authority Brands (Apax Partners majority; BCI minority)
- Headquarters
- Columbia, MD (Authority Brands)
- Scale
- ~360 franchise territories across the US
Also a franchisor, not an owned roll-up. Benjamin Franklin Plumbing is an Authority Brands franchise (majority-owned by Apax Partners, with BCI a minority investor) — and is frequently, but wrongly, listed as a Neighborly brand.
Frequently asked
Who are the largest plumbing consolidators in the US?
The national anchor is Roto-Rooter, owned by public company Chemed. The most active plumbing-primary private-equity roll-ups include P3 Services (Stellex Capital), Repipe Specialists (Gryphon Investors), SageWater (Boyne Capital) and Len The Plumber (L Catterton). Many of the biggest buyers are multi-trade home-services platforms — Apex Service Partners, Wrench Group and Sila Services — that acquire plumbers alongside HVAC and electrical companies.
Is private equity buying plumbing companies?
Yes. PitchBook data cited by the Wall Street Journal counted roughly 800 HVAC, plumbing and electrical companies acquired by private equity since 2022. The wave is large enough that the 800-member Nexstar Network cut ties with about a third of its members after they sold to PE. Plumbing’s recurring, non-discretionary demand and extreme fragmentation make it a favored roll-up target.
What multiple do plumbing companies sell for?
Established plumbing businesses typically sell for about 5x-9x EBITDA, with the higher end going to larger, management-led companies that have recurring maintenance or service-agreement revenue. Smaller owner-operated shops are usually valued on an SDE basis around 3x-6x, and premium PE-platform deals for high-quality, recurring-revenue businesses have reached 10x or more.
How do I sell my plumbing business to a consolidator?
DealSeam works confidentially with plumbing owners to understand their options and, where there is a fit, introduces them to qualified buyers — with the buyer paying the success fee, so sellers pay nothing. DealSeam is not a traditional business broker.
Methodology & sources
Platforms were identified from plumbing and home-services M&A coverage (PR Newswire and Business Wire deal releases, Forbes, and the Wall Street Journal citing PitchBook), then each one’s current owner, headquarters and scale were verified against a primary public source — the company’s own site, the private-equity sponsor’s portfolio or news page, or a dated press release. Anything that could not be confirmed against a primary source was excluded rather than estimated; for example, Affordable Water Heaters & Plumbing (AWHAP) was dropped because its last documented PE event (Dubin Clark, 2020) is too old to confirm current ownership. Plumbing overlaps heavily with HVAC: the largest acquirers of plumbing companies are often multi-trade home-services platforms — Apex Service Partners, Wrench Group, Sila Services and ARS / Rescue Rooter — which we track on our separate HVAC roll-up tracker and cross-link rather than re-list here, to keep this list focused on plumbing-primary buyers. Franchisors (Mr. Rooter, Benjamin Franklin Plumbing) consolidate by selling franchises, not by buying independents, and are labeled as such. Not all consolidation is private equity: Roto-Rooter, the national leader, is a public company via Chemed (NYSE: CHE). Revenue and EBITDA are private for the PE-backed operators and are intentionally not published; the multiple band shown is industry-typical, not any single deal’s multiple. Market-size and consolidation figures are sourced externally (IBISWorld, the WSJ / PitchBook, Forbes, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics). Last updated June 2026.
Market sources
- IBISWorld — Plumbers in the US: Number of Businesses (2026) ↗
- Wall Street Journal — How PE Transforms Plumbing & HVAC Small Businesses (Oct 2024, via American Investment Council) ↗
- Forbes — A Group For Small Building-Trade Businesses Tells Private Equity To Get Lost (Sept 2025) ↗
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Outlook: Plumbers, Pipefitters & Steamfitters ↗
Last updated June 2026. Ownership in this sector changes frequently; figures reflect the most recent public sources available and are not investment, legal, or tax advice.
Thinking about selling your plumbing business?
DealSeam works confidentially with owners to understand their options and, where there's a fit, introduces them to qualified buyers — at no cost to sellers.