TruTemp Services Buys 50-Year-Old Sandhills Heating & Refrigeration

What happened

TruTemp Services, the residential HVAC, plumbing, and electrical platform backed by Centre Partners and Baldwin Creek Partners, acquired Sandhills Heating & Refrigeration, Inc., an HVAC and electrical contractor based in Aberdeen, North Carolina. TruTemp announced the deal on October 13, 2026, together with its acquisition of D&D HVAC, LLC, a Sanford contractor founded in 2006 that serves property owners, homebuilders, and general contractors. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The seller

Founded in 1976, Sandhills now trades as Sandhills Heating, Refrigeration & Electrical from its base on NC-211 in Aberdeen. It installs, replaces, maintains, and repairs heating and cooling systems, with technicians on call around the clock, and its electrical work runs from wiring upgrades and new-construction wiring to standby generators and landscape lighting. It serves homes and businesses across Moore, Hoke, Lee, and Montgomery counties, from Pinehurst and Southern Pines to Raeford. In announcing the deal, TruTemp credited Sandhills with a strong reputation and longstanding relationships with custom homebuilders and property owners over its 50-year history.

Bradford "Brad" Hainley runs the company as its general manager. He started out in radio sales in Nashville and later at a promotional products company in New Jersey, and moved to the area with his wife, Kelli, in 2005. Hainley says he worked his way up at Sandhills performing every task the business required, earned his HVAC license in 2010, and has since focused on improving the company's image in the community and on installing Trane equipment. He will continue to lead Sandhills' operations as part of TruTemp Services.

The buyer

Centre Partners and Baldwin Creek Partners formed TruTemp Holdings in September 2025 through the acquisition of Maynor Service Company, a Raleigh HVAC, plumbing, and electrical contractor 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. TruTemp is headquartered in Apex, and its businesses do new installation for national, regional, and custom homebuilders, along with maintenance, repair, and replacement work for homeowners.

TruTemp describes Maynor as its initial acquisition, and says Maynor, D&D, and Sandhills together give it a connected footprint across North Carolina running from Raleigh, Apex, and Durham through Sanford and Aberdeen. The company says the businesses it partners with keep control of day-to-day operations while drawing on shared finance, HR, recruiting, marketing, technology, and benefits.

"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. Jeff Bartoli, a senior partner at Centre Partners, called the two deals "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."

Centre Partners, founded in 1986, is a lower-middle-market private equity firm with offices in New York and Los Angeles that invests in consumer, commercial and residential services, and healthcare. Baldwin Creek Partners, founded in 2022, is a lower-middle-market investment firm based in Connecticut.

What this means for HVAC and electrical owners

For an owner whose installation work runs through a few local custom builders, those relationships are a sellable asset in their own right: a buyer whose own business includes builder installation put a builder book and a team at the front of what it said it was buying, and the person running the business day to day stays in place to carry them. Owners weighing that route can read our guide on selling an HVAC business to private equity.

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 and electrical businesses in North Carolina.

Own an HVAC and electrical business with $5M–$100M in revenue? We’re glad to give you an honest read on what it’s worth and who would buy it — no pitch, no pressure. Get a free valuation.

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