Arkansas HVACR NewsMagazine September 2026

HVACR NewsMagazine September 2026

Business & Marketing Tips

Straight Talk About Private Equity By Patrick Lange When the owner of an HVAC company decides to sell, they usually have two main goals for their deal. One is the legacy goal: ensure that the company they worked so hard to build continues to operate successfully and take care of its customers and employees. The second goal is a financial one: getting top dollar for the business. These goals are not mutually exclusive, but the buyer pool will look different depending on which is more important to the seller. Here are some things a seller should understand about Private Equity buyers versus traditional buyers. Private Equity buyers are cash buyers. They are using their investors’ money, so they are not subject to the constraints of lenders, especially SBA lenders. An SBA loan is capped at $5 million, so buyers not backed by PE will need to secure additional financing to acquire large companies. PE buyers can also move faster, since the decision-making and approval process is internal and not subject to a team of underwriters. That means that the diligence process, negotiations, and closing might take considerably less time than with a traditional buyer. That matters to sellers who are ready to exit the business right away. Making the numbers work for PE buyers looks different than it does for traditional buyers. When a traditional buyer applies for financing, the numbers must make sense for the lender. The current cash

The Arkansas HVACR NewsMagazine welcomes Patick Lange as an important contributor to

Arkansas HVACR business health. As for credibility, Ruth King gave her stamp of approval without hesitation. So, who is Patrick Lange. Well, Patrick owned an HVAC company himself, so he knows firsthand what owners go through daily. That knowledge and experience shaped how he runs his business today. His business-building strategy is simply to educate, inform, and help owners get the most value they can from their companies, both when they own them AND when it's time to sell. He's been on hundreds of podcasts, spoken to thousands of HVAC owners at conferences, and is trusted by heating and air associations across the US. If you get a chance, have a look at his YouTube channel. He has 185 videos designed to inspire and educate. None of them is a sales pitch. He also publishes 5-6 articles a month and shares them via email with his 40,000+ HVAC industry contacts. His company, Business Modification Group, has a perfect 5-star Google rating. Patrick Lange is an experienced HVAC-specific business broker with Business Modification Group based in Madison, Florida. He specializes in companies with $1-10 million in revenue and maintains a network of buyers and sellers in the industry flow must cover debt service, normal operations, and provide a reasonable salary for the new owner or manager. If the business doesn’t have sufficient cash flow, the buyer won’t be approved.