Centre Partners-Backed TruTemp Buys Sanford's D&D HVAC

What happened

TruTemp Services, the Apex, North Carolina, residential HVAC, plumbing, and electrical platform backed by Centre Partners and Baldwin Creek Partners, acquired D&D HVAC. D&D is an HVAC contractor in Sanford, North Carolina. TruTemp announced the deal on October 13, 2026. The same release announced TruTemp's acquisition of Sandhills Heating & Refrigeration, an Aberdeen HVAC and electrical contractor founded in 1976. Bradford Hainley will continue to lead Sandhills. Together with Maynor Service Company, the Raleigh business TruTemp was formed around in 2025, the two deals give TruTemp a connected footprint running from Raleigh, Apex, and Durham through Sanford and Aberdeen. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The seller

Founded in 2006 and based in Sanford, D&D installs, replaces, maintains, and repairs HVAC systems for property owners, homebuilders, and general contractors. TruTemp describes it as a trusted provider to a diverse base of customers across the Sanford market. Alongside installation work, D&D runs after-hours service calls in the evenings and on weekends, annual preventive maintenance contracts that include free parts, discounts for landlords with multiple properties, and two-year labor warranties on new major equipment. It also takes commercial as well as residential service calls. The company says its owner has more than 25 years in heating and air conditioning. Dairus Davis will continue to lead D&D as part of TruTemp Services.

The buyer

TruTemp Holdings, which operates as TruTemp Services, was formed in September 2025 when Centre Partners and Baldwin Creek Partners acquired Maynor Service Company, a Raleigh residential HVAC, plumbing, and electrical provider founded in 1996. Maynor's president, Brett Chappell, a veteran of more than 40 years in the industry, invested in TruTemp alongside the two firms and is now its chairman. Centre Partners, founded in 1986, is a lower-middle-market private equity firm with offices in New York and Los Angeles. Baldwin Creek Partners is a Connecticut investment firm founded in 2022.

Through its operating businesses, TruTemp does new installation work for national, regional, and custom homebuilders, and maintenance, repair, and replacement for homeowners across North Carolina. Partner companies keep control of day-to-day operations and draw on shared finance, HR, recruiting, marketing, technology, and benefits functions. "Both businesses are exactly the type of businesses we want to partner with; they are established local operators with strong reputations, talented teams and a shared commitment to high-quality service," Chappell said.

Centre Partners has built a Southeast services platform before

The closest comparable is the sponsor's own. In November 2020, Centre announced United Land Services, a Jacksonville, Florida, landscaping platform formed with independent sponsor LP First Capital, and Jeff Bartoli was the Centre partner quoted on that launch. By January 2026, United had completed 25 acquisitions and ran more than 30 branches across six states; its 2025 deals included Wrightsville Beach Landscaping in Wilmington, North Carolina, added to existing operations in Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham. Bartoli, now a senior partner, said D&D and Sandhills "represent continued execution of the strategy we set out at the Company's formation to build a scaled Field Services platform across the Southeast through organic growth and strategic acquisitions." Owners weighing a buyer of this kind can read our guide on selling an HVAC business to private equity.

What this means for HVAC owners

For HVAC owners in smaller cities, the deal shows how a sponsor-backed platform fills the gap between its markets: by buying the company that already holds the builder relationships there. In a sale like this, the owner's local standing is the asset being bought, not something the buyer replaces.

OffDeal is an advisory firm that helps lower-middle-market business owners sell with confidence. Reach out to learn more about our expertise with HVAC businesses in North Carolina.

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Source: TruTemp Services (PR Newswire) - https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/trutemp-services-expands-north-carolina-footprint-with-two-complementary-acquisitions-302906264.html