Thermal Concepts Acquires Hunter Mechanical in First Mid-Atlantic Deal

What happened

Thermal Concepts, a commercial HVAC services company headquartered in Davie, Florida, acquired Hunter Mechanical, LLC, a commercial HVAC, refrigeration, and food service equipment contractor based in Newport News, Virginia. The deal was announced April 21, 2026, and is Thermal Concepts' first acquisition in the Mid-Atlantic. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The seller

Jeff Hunter founded Hunter Mechanical in 2009. The company replaces, repairs, and maintains commercial HVAC, refrigeration, and food service equipment, and most of its work is replacement and repeat maintenance. Its customers include chain restaurants, retail stores, large healthcare facilities, industrial facilities, and schools.

Beyond heating and cooling, Hunter services restaurant equipment from fryers and exhaust hoods to walk-in coolers and freezers. It also runs backflow testing, offers 24-hour emergency service, and works across Newport News, Virginia Beach, Richmond, and North Carolina.

"After almost 20 years of building my own independent HVAC business, I am truly thrilled to join the Thermal Concepts team," Hunter said in the announcement. He added that the platform and the "high-quality leadership in place were key factors in my decision to join."

The buyer

Founded in 1983, Thermal Concepts provides maintenance, controls, repair, and installation services for commercial HVAC and building control systems. Two Miami private equity firms, Trivest Partners and Halmos Capital Partners, announced their partnership with the company in May 2022 as the start of a commercial HVAC services platform. Until this deal, the group served clients across Florida and Georgia.

"This partnership with Jeff will allow us to serve our existing customer base across multiple geographies while also adding new specialty service capabilities across the entire Thermal Concepts platform," said Chris Horan, who was Thermal Concepts' chief executive when the deal was announced. The company said it intends "to continue to pursue growth opportunities throughout the Mid-Atlantic."

How Thermal Concepts opens a new region

The platform has entered a new market this way before. Its first add-on under Trivest and Halmos was Irvine Mechanical, an Orlando contractor founded in 1990, in August 2022. In June 2024 it bought 5 Seasons Mechanical, an Atlanta commercial HVAC company founded in 2012, as its first acquisition in Georgia. Adam Soyah, who founded 5 Seasons and was its chief executive, is now a regional vice president at Thermal Concepts. Owners comparing sponsor-backed buyers can read our guide on selling an HVAC business to private equity.

What this means for HVAC owners

Hunter Mechanical is now where 5 Seasons was in 2024: the platform's only company in a new region. It also brings work that neither the Irvine nor the 5 Seasons announcement described, restaurant kitchen and refrigeration equipment, and Horan tied that work to the whole platform rather than to Virginia. For a commercial HVAC owner with a specialty line alongside core service work, that line is part of what a platform like this is buying, and a reason to settle what role the founder will hold after closing before the deal is signed.

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Source: Business Wire - https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260421600802/en/Thermal-Concepts-Announces-the-Acquisition-of-Hunter-Mechanical-LLC-Expanding-into-the-Mid-Atlantic-Market