Modigent Acquires Waco's P&E Mechanical as Its Leadership Stays On

What happened

Modigent, a Phoenix-based HVAC, plumbing, and controls company, acquired P&E Mechanical, a mechanical contracting business in Waco, Texas, that provides HVAC and plumbing services across Central Texas. Modigent announced the deal on July 8, 2026, and said the transaction closed in the second quarter of the year. P&E's leadership team will remain in place, continuing to oversee day-to-day operations and client relationships. The announcement did not include a price or other financial terms.

The seller

Paul and Elizabeth Barbieri founded P&E Mechanical in Waco in 2013, and it began as a small family operation. The company does installation, retrofit, and ongoing service work for education, healthcare, manufacturing, and power generation facilities. It also serves homeowners with air conditioning, heating, and plumbing repair, runs a sheet metal shop, and offers 24-hour emergency service. The company was built on employee development, technical training, and safety.

Paul Barbieri said P&E "spoke with several organizations" before choosing Modigent, and that "Modigent stood apart because their leadership truly understands our industry." He described the outcome as "same leadership, same team but with broader resources and a national platform." P&E now operates as a Modigent operating company under its own name.

The buyer

Modigent is a portfolio company of OMERS Private Equity, which invested in 2022; the company took the Modigent name in 2023, rebranding from Pueblo. Modigent reports more than 1,500 team members and runs a portfolio of specialized HVAC, plumbing, and controls companies that stretches from California to South Carolina, serving commercial facilities and complex environments. Dan Bueschel is its chief executive.

"P&E Mechanical represents everything we value in a partner company," Bueschel said. Frank Doyle, Modigent's regional president, said, "Waco and the broader I-35 corridor are exactly the kind of high-growth markets we're targeting as we build out our Texas footprint." Modigent said P&E will gain access to enhanced employee benefits, technology platforms, and fleet management capabilities.

Where Modigent already operates in Texas

P&E is the sixth Modigent operating company based in Texas. Before P&E, Modigent entered Houston with Southland Mechanical, a commercial and industrial HVAC contractor founded in 2008, in a deal that closed in the third quarter of 2025. The nearest to Waco is Climate Solutions in Pflugerville, outside Austin, which serves municipal, school district, and healthcare clients. The other three are two companies in Dallas-Fort Worth and one in Harlingen, and Climate Solutions and the Harlingen company opened a shared regional hub in San Antonio in 2025. Owners weighing an approach from a platform like this can read our guide on selling an HVAC business to private equity.

What this means for mechanical contracting owners

Waco sits on I-35 between Modigent's Austin-area and Dallas-Fort Worth companies, so P&E fills a gap in a corridor where the buyer already operates rather than opening a new region. P&E also serves homeowners, yet Modigent's announcement names only its education, healthcare, manufacturing, and power generation clients, the kind of commercial and institutional work its other Texas companies do. For Central Texas owners with a mixed residential and commercial book, that is the side of the business a commercial mechanical platform put forward when it announced the deal.

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

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Source: Modigent - https://modigent.com/media-post/modigent-expands-central-texas-presence-with-acquisition-of-pe-mechanical/